Wizard and a Vampire
by Animefreak347346
Summary: After an imperioused judge sentences Harry to 10 years in Azkaban, Dumbledore decides that the only way Harry will be safe is if he's sent abroad. Harry finds himself in Youkai Academy. Monsters are everywhere. Harry is lost. All Harry knows is that in order to protect his friends, both in Japan and in England, he has to get stronger. HarryxMoka HarryxKurumu HarryxMizore HarryxGin
1. Wizard and a Vampire

**Before I start this story, I want to warn you that I have taken certain creative liberties with various things in the HP and R+V universes. Overall, I haven't changed much, but there are going to be changes. Be patient, they will make sense in the end.**

* * *

Harry sat on a school bus for the first time since he was ten years old. He was on his way to a school called Youkai Academy. Harry sat, dazed and unaware, as the events of the previous week replayed over and over in his head.

* * *

_The courtroom was in complete pandemonium. Harry Potter, the savior of the Wizarding World, had just been sentenced to ten years in Azkaban. Curses- the verbal kind, not the magical kind- were flying around. People were crying and yelling and fighting. Harry was… silent._

_Harry stared past all of the chaos. All he could see was the broken Holly and Phoenix feather wand lying on the courtroom floor. He couldn't breathe for a moment. Everything was wrong. Dumbledore had lost. They hadn't listened to him. His wand had been snapped, and he was now a criminal._

_Harry wasn't naive. He knew that the punishment for underaged magic was far less than Azkaban. He knew that the judge had been Imperioused. He had just hoped that after everything that had happened, maybe something would go right for him when it really counted._

_Harry scoffed. _Maybe I am naive_, he thought harshly._

_Harry was escorted out of the courtroom by two Aurors. Harry thought it was unnecessary. Without his wand, he wouldn't be able to escape one Auror, let alone two. Harry watched passively as Dumbledore tried to follow him but was stopped. It was no use, everyone had seen that Dumbledore held no power here._

_The Aurors roughly shoved Harry into a holding cell for the night. Harry wasn't sure if they were Imperioused too or if they just didn't like him. Harry couldn't really find it within himself to care. He sat huddled up on the cold and hard bed, staring emptily at the ceiling of his tiny ceiling._

_The other prisoners cackled and mocked and jeered at Harry. Harry barely even heard them. All he could hear was the snapping of his wand. All he could feel was the missing weight of his wand at his side. The cold of the cell around him didn't register as he stared off into space._

_Harry jolted awake hours later. His fitful sleep was interrupted by the harsh, grinding sound of the iron cell doors swinging open. Harry's heart leaped into his throat at the sight of the Aurors in the doorway. Beside them was a dementor._

_"It's time, Potter," one of the Aurors sneered._

_Harry hesitantly rose from the hard bed and walked toward the Aurors. His heart beat wildly in his chest. Everything in him was screaming for him to run. His feet dragged as he fought against his first instincts. The Dementor's presence was a great shadow in his mind._

_After the fiasco with the dementors their third year, Hermione had been working with Harry and Ron to learn occlumency. Hermione had theorized that if they could lock any unhappy memories away in the presence of a dementor, they would remain unaffected. Considering he hadn't fainted yet, Harry supposed that it had helped to some extent. It did little to keep the misery at bay, not in Harry's current state. He remembered how helpless he had felt the first time he'd met one of the shadowy monsters. The same terrified, helpless feeling permeated Harry's very being as he tried desperately to look away from the source of his terror._

_The Aurors lead Harry out of the dungeons and port keyed onto an old dock. As he walked toward the small boat at the end, Harry got the feeling of a disgraced pirate walking the plank. Harry knew what awaited him at Azkaban. Most of the prisoners were Death Eaters. Harry would be dead well before his ten years were up._

_Harry was about to take the final step onto the boat when he heard from behind him, "Stupify!"_

_Harry saw a bright light flash out of the corner of his eye. Harry thought for a moment that the spell had hit him, but he realized that he could still move. So that meant… one of the Aurors had Stupified the other. Harry slowly turned to see the grizzly looking Auror who had Stupified the other. Harry froze at the sight of him. He didn't know him, so he wasn't part of the Order._

He must be a Death Eater_, Harry thought. This man was going to bring him to the Dark Lord, and he was going to be killed on sight. If Harry didn't move immediately, there would be a group of Death Eaters dancing over his corpse in less than an hour._

_Harry did the only thing that he could in his situation. He dived into the freezing water of the North Sea. The Death Eater dived in after him. Harry knew that his escape was futile. He was too weak to outswim a sloth, let alone a full grown man. The Death Eater grabbed onto Harry's foot and his stomach twisted as the man apparated them away._

_Harry sprang away from the Death Eater, fully expecting to look up and see the Dark Lord himself, but when Harry looked up he saw… Grimmauld Place? Harry looked back toward the supposed Death Eater. "His" face began to contort into one slightly more familiar. Harry knew the girl standing before him from Hogwarts. He hadn't interacted with her much, but he remembered that she had gotten into a lot of trouble his first year. She was almost as much of a trouble maker as the Weasley Twins._

_The girl cast a drying charm on both Harry and herself. "Wotcher, Harry. Sorry about all the confusion. I'm Tonks."_

_Harry stared at her in bewilderment. He had, after all, thought he would be dead by now. Then again, Harry had spent the last five years in varying degrees of "should've been dead by now." You'd think he'd be used to it at this point._

_"Everyone's in the kitchen. C'mon."_

_Harry followed the strange girl blindly. In the kitchen were Sirius, Hermione, Moody, the Weasleys, and Dumbledore. Sirius wrapped him in a hug as soon as he saw him._

_"I'm sorry I couldn't be there to support you, Harry," Sirius spoke in his hoarse voice._

_Harry squeezed Sirius back. Though it was weak, Sirius got the gesture. After Sirius let go, Ron and Hermione hugged him as well. Molly Weasley, surprisingly enough, waited until after they were finished to start fretting over her seventh son in all but name._

_The whole room was filled with emotions that Harry was not used to. The hugging, for one, was different. Everyone was looking at him like he was a dead man walking. Harry knew that something was off._

_He looked at Dumbledore, who had yet to speak. "What's going on," Harry asked._

_The old man sighed heavily. "Harry, we have all decided that… in order to keep you safe, you must be sent away."_

_Harry stared at his Headmaster in complete disbelief. Surely he had misheard him. "What?" The question was little more than a whisper, but everyone heard it. The room was silent._

_"I have an old friend in Japan. He owns a school there that has been hidden from both the muggle and magical world for centuries. I believe that it is best if you go there until you are ready to return. It is the only place that you will be safe now."_

_"I- You- You can't be serious!"_

_Sirius said nothing. That was enough of an answer for Harry. If Sirius wasn't going to make a pun about his name, the circumstances had to be dire._

_"I'm afraid I am, my boy." Dumbledore wouldn't meet Harry's eyes. The ever-present twinkle was absent._

_Harry looked around at the fallen faces of his loved ones. Mrs. Weasley was sobbing into her husband's chest. Sirius looked about ready to follow. Ron and Hermione… they looked lost. Harry wanted to comfort them, but if he opened his mouth, if he moved, if he breathed, he was sure that he would burst into tears. So Harry stood frozen and miserable while his world as he knew it crumbled around him._

* * *

The bus jerked to a stop, throwing Harry out of his memories and his seat. He had nearly forgotten how much he hated the big yellow death machines.

"This is your stop, kid. Better be careful in there, Youkai Academy is a scary place." The man chuckled evilly. "Try not to die in there."

_Unlikely_, Harry thought. _If you can survive in Hogwarts, you can survive anywhere_.

Harry looked down at the scar on his arm. The basilisk had bitten him there. The scar was a constant reminder of all Harry had survived in his four years at Hogwarts. If anything was going to kill Harry, it would be Voldemort himself.

Harry began walking toward the school. The forest he had to walk through reminded him of the Forbidden Forest. It was dark and creepy. Harry felt as if he was being watched. It was almost nostalgic.

Harry began to get lost in his thoughts as he walked. He had barely heard the sound of a bicycle when suddenly he was kissing the ground. Harry rubbed the back of his head as he got up, feeling for a lump. When he looked up, he was met with a pair of beautiful green eyes that practically shone even in the dark forest. The girl who had hit him had bright pink hair and soft features. Harry blushed at her proximity.

Harry began to get up, but he noticed that his hand was squished into something a lot softer than the forest floor. Harry looked down to see that he was grabbing the girl's thighs. Harry's cheeks flushed red enough to rival a Weasley's hair before scrambling away.

"I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to, I swear!"

Harry looked at the girl again. A pretty pink blush dusted across her cheeks. She looked dazed.

"Are you alright? You didn't hit your head, did you?" Harry asked.

"You're bleeding," the girl said instead of answering his question.

Harry frowned in confusion. He brought a finger up to his nose and pulled it away to reveal the dark red liquid.

"Oh. I hadn't even noticed. But how are- what are you doing?"

The girl had gotten much closer. She seemed to be… sniffing him?

"I'm sorry. I can't help it because… I'm a vampire!"

With that, the girl latched onto Harry's neck and began to suck his blood. Harry startled. He wanted to push the girl off, but he feared that that would cause her to tear out his neck.

"G- get off!" Harry cried.

That seemed to snap the girl out of it. She jumped away from Harry with a hand clamped over her mouth in embarrassment. Her cheeks were bright red.

"Oh no! I'm sorry! It's just that... I've never drank blood from someone before and y-you were bleeding and you smell so good… like a human."

"You can't just go around biting people without their permission!" Harry was a lot more flustered than scared or angry. He had sort of expected that something of this nature would happen when he'd heard that Youkai Academy was a school for monsters. Besides, the bite didn't really hurt. It felt more like a hickey.

The girl pouted, looking thoroughly chastised. Harry suddenly felt guilty even though _he_ was the one who'd just had his blood stolen. Harry looked around and found her bike a few feet away; it was lying on the side of the path with a broken wheel.

Harry pointed his wand at the bike and cast, "Reparo."

The bike popped back into shape to the awe and amazement of the pinkette. "Wow! I've never met a wizard before! That was so cool!"

Harry blushed when the girl smiled cutely at him. He hadn't expected that reaction. From what he'd been told, monsters didn't like wizards because they were closer to humans.

"I'm Akashiya Moka. Thank you for fixing my bike… and sorry for hitting you with it… and biting you."

The girl looked sad again, so Harry said the first thing to come to mind. That proved to be a stupid decision, as always. "Hey, it's alright. You just need to ask first." Harry was mentally smacking himself for that.

"Really? Thank you so much! Does that make us friends?" Moka asked, glittering with unbridled yearning. Harry really couldn't hope to say no to that.

"Of course."

The pinkette did a silly little happy dance that made Harry smile before she paused and put a hand on her chin thoughtfully. "Y'know, I still don't know your name."

"Oh right! So sorry. I'm Har- Potter Harry." Harry was still getting used to Japanese customs. The translation charm that Dumbledore had put on him could only go so far. Harry needed to learn and remember most of the customs for himself.

After Harry's introduction, he and Moka walked to the school together. Harry asked if all buildings used by monsters were surrounded by so much… Halloween. That led to a swap of Halloween stories and a decent time killer. The two chatted all the way up until it was time for them to separate, so each of them could get their schedules.

* * *

Harry followed the numbers on the doors until he found classroom 1-3. Harry knocked on the door and entered when a spritely voice beckoned him to come in. The teacher, a woman with brown hair and cat ears, stood in front of the class. Her eyes seemed to be perpetually closed, and her tail waved about carelessly.

"You must be the new student! Please introduce yourself," the teacher said. Her voice was high pitched, and cheery.

"I'm Potter Harry. I'm a transfer student from England. I hope we can all be friends," Harry said. He bowed, as he had been told(by Hermione, obviously) that that was the polite way to greet the class. Then he took one of the open seats by the window. As soon as he was seated, the teacher began to speak again.

"Alright, then! I'm Ms. Nekonome! It's nice to meet all of you. Now, as you all know, this is a school for monsters. Currently, this planet is well under the control of humans. So, to survive, we have to learn to live alongside them. That brings us to our first rule. You must remain in human form as long as you're on campus! Rule number two, never ever reveal your monster identity to another student! I hope we'll all follow these rules," she said with an amiable smile.

"Why bother?" said a beefy looking guy to Harry's right. "If we see a human we should just kill them or rape 'em if they're pretty. That's what I'd do anyway." As he finished speaking, an abnormally long tongue peeked out and licked his lips at the revolting thought.

Harry glared at the monster. He could already tell that he would be a problem in the future. Harry had to sit on his hands to keep himself from hexing him on the spot for just the suggestion. Fortunately for the disgusting monster, a distraction came when the door slid open.

"Sorry I'm late. I got lost. Hello, everyone! I'm Akashiya Moka!"

Harry sighed in relief at the sight of his new friend. He had been hoping that they would have classes together. Harry wasn't really that great at making friends. At Hogwarts, he typically just hung around with Ron and Hermione. He was relieved to have found a friend here at all.

Moka was about to find her seat when she made eye contact with Harry. Her face lit up immediately. "Harry, it's you!" she cried. She leaped at him, almost throwing him from his chair as she wrapped him in a hug.

"M-Moka… I can't breathe…" Moka had Harry's face firmly planted between her breasts. If Harry didn't suffocate first, the blood rushing to his head would surely kill him.

* * *

Harry and Moka decided to stop and get something to drink before heading to their next period. Moka got a can of tomato juice and Harry got pumpkin juice.

"So, apparently we weren't supposed to reveal our "monster identities" to each other earlier," Harry said, only slightly bashful about having broken a rule on his first day. School rules really start to matter less and less after all the life-threatening situations Harry and his friends had found themselves in over the years… Well, they mattered less to everyone but Hermione.

Moka looked a bit bashful. "Yeah… I guess I just got excited. I've never really had friends before beca-" Moka was cut off by a slimy, cocky sounding voice from their right.

"Heeey, sexy. Akashiya Moka, right? I'm Komiya Saizou. I'll be your friend."

Harry scowled and turned to see the same perverted asshole from their homeroom.

"You want friends, huh? Why didn't you just say so? I can be _real_ friendly. Maybe you should ditch the wimp and come hang out with a real monster."

Harry would've found the lame pick up lines and cliche "bully" behavior hilarious if they weren't directed at his new friend.

"Was that really the best that you could come up with, Saizou? Honestly, are you going to ask for my _lunch money_ next?" Harry said with a flat expression.

Saizou growled threateningly and snatched Harry up by the collar of his shirt. "Better watch it, numbnuts. I'll squash you flat before you can scream. What is a babe like you doing with a loser like this guy anyway?" The last statement was said to Moka with a frankly disturbing leer.

"_Numbnuts_? My cousin came up with better when we were _ten_," Harry hissed mockingly, taking the attention off of Moka.

That got him tossed into a nearby column at high speeds. The impact hurt a lot more than Harry had anticipated. He had almost forgotten who he was dealing with. It wouldn't do to underestimate a monster. At least he had been released. Harry pulled out his wand to hex the fool blind, but Moka got in his way.

"Harry-kun! Are you alright? Go away, Saizou! I only befriend nice people, thank you!" Moka yelled. It wasn't quite as acidic as she'd intended it to be, but Harry gave her points for effort.

Saizou chuckled. "I'll be back," he said menacingly.

_As if he couldn't get any more cliched_, Harry thought.

Moka helped Harry up. Saizou left with a cocky swagger, clearly thinking he'd won. Harry gritted his teeth in frustration. He had better be happy that Moka was there.

* * *

Moka led Harry up to the roof. They both decided to skip the next period, which Harry was grateful for. Their next class was math, and Hogwarts didn't teach much of that. Harry didn't even want to know how far behind he was in that subject.

"Man, that was so scary~" Moka sighed. "I'm glad you weren't too hurt."

"Don't worry about me. What about you?"

"Huh?"

"It can't feel so great to have a creep like that stalking you around. I thought creeps in the human world were bad, at least they don't have superhuman strength."

"Oh. Well, it's pretty common here I guess. Usually, the stronger monsters will look for mates here at Youkai Academy. As far as monsters are concerned, if you're strong enough to beat the mate you choose in a fight, their parents will give their blessing. As a vampire, I usually wouldn't have to be worried, but I can't use my full power. Look." Moka tugged the sides of her shirt away to reveal a rosary on a chain.

Harry tried very hard to stare at only the rosary, but Moka's breasts were very hard to ignore. Moka spoke, thankfully bringing Harry's eyes up to her own.

"If this rosary were to be removed, I'd transform into my true form, a powerful and scary vampire. I can't take it off myself, though," Moka said.

"That's alright," Harry said. Moka stared at him with her eyes blown wide in shock. "If Saizou comes back, I'll protect you." The determination in his tone was clear. If Saizou tried to approach him or Moka again, Harry would hex him into next week.

"Harry-kun that's so sweet!" Moka exclaimed as she threw her arms around his neck. "I'm so happy that you can accept me even though I'm a vampire."

Harry smiled. "Now what kind of hypocrite would I be if I judged you by your blood? After all, monsters don't typically like wizards either."

"I could never hate you, Harry-kun. After all, you're my first friend!"

Harry smiled sadly at Moka. He remembered the days before Hogwarts when he was in a similar position. Dudley was like a living friend repellent back in those days.

"I'm glad to be your friend, Moka."

"You're also… the first person I've drank blood from. I could never forget that fragrance and that taste. Harry-kun, may I…"

"I mean, I guess if you w-"

"Thank you!"

Moka launched herself at Harry and latched onto his neck. Harry let her get a few sips before stopping her.

"Umm, I think that's enough, Moka."

Moka pouted, but she let go of her wizard friend anyway. Harry walked Moka to her next class. The two shared matching smiles before Harry left to get to his own class. Harry's smile remained even as he walked into his next period five minutes late.

The whole situation was just so… normal. Harry had just skipped class, not to fight some creature or disguised Death Eater, but to talk to his friend. His only problems at the moment were math class and a bully hitting on his friend. The irony wasn't lost on Harry that the most normal school day he'd ever had was in a school full of monsters.

_Maybe wizards are just a special kind of weird,_ Harry thought.

* * *

When class was finished, Harry waited outside where Moka had agreed to meet him for lunch. As time went by, Harry began to wonder whether or not his friend would show up at all.

Harry was about to go back inside to find Moka when he heard a scream somewhere in the forest. He was running toward it almost before he realized what the sound was.

Somehow, Harry was sure that the scream belonged to Moka. After all, things never went well for Harry very long before something awful happened. Harry was almost back to the bus stop by the time he reached Moka. A hulking monster stood over her. His skin was tight over his muscles, and his bones covered him like armor. He had long claws, and he was almost taller than Hagrid.

Harry caught a glimpse of his face, but he didn't need it. He knew before he'd even arrived that this monster was Komiya Saizou. Harry should've been afraid. Any normal 15-year-old boy would be terrified of the beast Harry was staring at. But Harry was not normal. No amount of normal high school shenanigans were going to change that.

Harry felt no fear. All he felt was rage. Saizou threw Moka into a tree with his abnormally long tongue. Harry realized that he was trying to goad Moka into transforming. Of course, he wouldn't know that she couldn't do that.

Harry nearly hissed his curse as he saw the bruise on Moka's cheek. Harry cried the first spell to come to mind. "Confringo!"

A wildfire sprung from Harry's wand and engulfed Saizou. The monster cried out and flung himself on the ground in an attempt to put out the fire. Harry ran around the monster, more concerned for his friend at the moment than his opponent.

"Are you alright? Do you need any help walking?"

"I'm fine, but- Harry, look out!"

Harry turned around in time to be backhanded across the clearing. Moka screamed out in alarm as Harry went tumbling down a hill. He stopped just before he could roll into the blood red lake.

_Thank Merlin for small mercies_, Harry grumbled in his mind.

Harry got up slowly, holding his aching side. Moka slid down the hill right after him. She was at his side almost immediately.

"Harry-kun, we have to get out of here! Saizou is an orc!"

Harry, of course, had no idea what that meant, but he figured it was bad. Still, he had hurt Harry's new friend, and he had to pay for that. Harry reached for his wand only to find his pocket empty.

_I dropped my bloody wand. Unbelievable_. In true Harry Potter style, everything was going to shit. Harry and Moka began to run.

"Moka, I need you to find my wand while I distract Saizou," Harry said.

Moka shook her head defiantly. "I won't leave you alone with him! He's an orc, and without your wand, you're just a human! You'll die!"

"Well, we're both going to die if I don't have my wand, Moka," Harry refuted. They didn't have time for this. Saizou was gaining fast.

"No! You're my only friend, Harry. I'm not gonna let you die!"

It was no use. Saizou had already caught up. Even if Moka left then, it would be too late. Their only option was to run. Unfortunately, what Hogwarts lacked in math, it lacked even more in physical education. While quite fast for a human, Harry couldn't hope to keep up with a vampire or an orc.

Saizou caught up to them quickly and slapped Harry aside, somehow managing to not cut his side open with his knife hands while he did it. Moka ran after her friend. She helped Harry as he struggled to get up.

"You really ditched me for this weakling? Look at him! I only hit him twice, and he can't stand! Come with me, Moka. Heh. Maybe if you do, I won't kill the runt."

"Not gonna happen!" Moka replied hotly. Her soft green eyes were hardened with resolve. She and Harry were both walking out of this forest together even if she had to carry him out.

"Then die!" Saizou stalked up to the pair menacingly. His claws were poised to strike.

"Moka, you have to leave!" Harry pleaded. He couldn't look away from the immediate threat stalking towards them. Thoughts raced through his mind, possible strategies struggling to form. When he blindly pushed Moka away, his hand caught on the rosary. It slipped off so easily, Harry almost didn't notice.

He did notice when the sky suddenly turned red and bats came flying at him out of nowhere. None of the bats touched him, though. They all began to surround Moka. He briefly worried that they were attacking her, but Moka was silent. No screaming usually meant that everything was okay. A single bat peeled off of her eye to reveal a blood red iris.

Harry immediately looked for the rosary on her chest, but it was gone. He was holding it. Moka was now using her full vampiric power.

The rest of the bats scattered to reveal an entirely different Moka. She had silver hair and a huge, terrifying aura. Harry was in awe at his friend. He had never felt power like this, so tangible that it could be felt in the air.

Moka glared fiercely at Saizou. The orc was trembling in fright at the newly transformed Moka. He flinched back at the sight of the harsh glare.

"You have the nerve to assume you're monster enough to claim me? Know your place."

The silver-haired Moka kicked Saizou, sending him flying into the cliff face that Harry had rolled down. The orc was knocked out cold.

Moka turned dismissively from the downed orc. She stared at Harry with a look that he couldn't read. She walked toward him and held out her hand expectantly.

Harry was so dazed he couldn't really tell what she was asking him for. Then he remembered the rosary in his hand. He put the rosary in her hand, but he stopped her before she could put it back on.

"You're still… Moka… right?"

"I am different from the Moka you know, but we are both Akashiya Moka."

Before Harry could ask any more questions, Moka snapped the rosary back on. The silver hair bled out into pink, and the red eyes turned back to green. Moka's eyes fluttered closed and she passed out as soon as the transformation was complete. Harry caught her before she could hit the ground.

* * *

Moka drifted back into the land of consciousness to see Harry leaning over her with a concerned look on his face. "Welcome back. Are you alright, Moka?"

Moka sat up almost immediately, a flustered blush dusting her cheeks. "Am I alright? Why are you asking about me? You're the one that was hurt!"

"It's nothing. I'm fine, Moka. That must've been rather scary for you, though. You had to face him all alone. Though I suppose with the transformation that wasn't too big a task…"

Moka sighed. "Always so worried about me and never yourself… Come on, Harry-kun. Let's go find your wand and get you to the nurse's office."

"If we can find my wand, I won't need to go to the nurse's office," Harry retorted.

Harry had been practicing a variety of spells with Ron and Hermione since third year. Harry had upped the ante in fourth year. He had been motivated in part by his lack of spell knowledge during the Triwizard Tournament, but it was mostly due to Voldemort's return. Hermione had just been glad that Harry was "finally paying attention to his studies."

Moka and Harry took the long way back to the place Saizou had ambushed her because Harry couldn't make it up the hill in his condition. When they arrived, they split up to search. Harry was looking over by where Moka had been thrown against the tree, and Moka was looking in the opposite direction.

Eventually, Moka found the wand in a bush and handed it to Harry who then used it to heal himself. The two walked back towards the school and decided to skip the rest of the day. Harry figured they had earned it after almost dying.


	2. Succubus and a Vampire

The next morning, Harry and Moka met up outside of Harry's dorm. Harry's luck took an unexpected turn in that he and Moka had most of their classes together. They had arranged to walk to class together every morning.

Harry began to notice that as they walked, a small crowd was forming around them. The crowd consisted of male classmates who decided to loudly bemoan the fact that Harry was friends with Moka and not them… as if that was going to change anything. Harry elected to ignore them, but one of them said something of particular interest to him.

"He looks so small and weak, but he somehow managed to defeat that brute, Saizou!"

_When did that happen? It was Moka that beat him, not me… But if it keeps idiots like them off my back, maybe I'll let them believe that._

"Harry-kun," a soft voice said, interrupting Harry's thoughts. "Y'see- um… I left early this morning, and I had to skip breakfast, so I was wondering if, well…"

Harry looked over at his friend with a teasing smile. "You wondered if you might have a sip of me?"

Moka nodded, a cute flush dusting her cheeks. "If you wouldn't mind?"

"Go for it."

Moka grinned before launching herself at Harry eagerly. She nearly knocked Harry off of his feet.

"Moka, please calm down. If you keep attacking me like that, you might tear a vein or something," Harry scolded lightly. He wasn't that worried, but his spine wouldn't be able to handle all the surprise jumps after awhile.

Moka nodded her acquiescence, looking a bit guilty. "Okay."

The two continued walking until Harry saw a girl in the woods hunched over and obviously in pain. She was near a small pond, and Harry was beginning to worry that she'd fall in.

Moka had continued walking when Harry had stopped. She was obviously distracted. Harry decided that he would catch up with her after he made sure this girl was okay.

Harry walked through the foliage and kneeled beside the blue haired girl.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

The girl looked up at him. "Please help me. I suddenly got all dizzy."

Harry nodded, immediately going to help the girl up. As soon as Harry got the girl to her feet, she stumbled into him. The girl's breasts pressed up against Harry, but she didn't seem to notice. Harry looked down instinctively, but he snapped his head back up at the sight he was given. The girl's boobs were enormous, and Harry really wanted to look again(he was, after all, a 15-year-old boy), but it was wrong and he knew it. Harry tried to push her away gently. Mrs. Weasley would have his head on a stick if she ever heard of him taking advantage of a girl, especially if she were ill.

Harry managed to put a bit of distance between himself and the girl. "I'll take you to the infirmary. I'm sure the nurse will be able to help."

The girl seemed unable to walk on her own. Harry, who wasn't nearly as tall as the others in his grade (due to childhood malnourishment courtesy of the Dursleys), was able to easily help the ailing girl walk by putting her arm over his shoulder. He would never say it to the girl's face, but those boobs he had been desperately trying to look away from were weighing her down quite a bit.

When they were halfway to the nurse's office, the girl began to let up a bit. Eventually, she was able to walk on her own.

"I'm really sorry to bother you, Harry-kun," Kurumu started.

Harry squinted at her suspiciously. "How do you know my name?"

The girl froze slightly before giggling and waving her hand dismissively at him. "Well, we're in the same homeroom, silly."

Harry was still suspicious, but before he could question her again, the girl stumbled again. Harry caught her. His concern far outweighed his suspicion.

The girl began to press her breasts against him again, making all of Harry's thoughts turn to cotton.

The girl sighed mournfully. "Sorry. It's just, ever since I was a baby, I've always been so weak. Sometimes my boobs just start to squeeze like this-" the girl leaned into Harry even more. "And they feel like they're about to burst!"

Harry really didn't know how to react to the girl squishing her boobs against him. He would've stepped back, but then she would fall. Suddenly, she stopped. Harry nearly sighed in relief. This really wasn't the type of moral dilemma he was expecting to be faced with in his teenage years.

"Harry-kun," the girl said softly. "I'm Kuruno Kurumu. Please be my friend?"

"Of course I'll be your-"

Harry looked down at the girl leaning against him. He locked eyes with her, and everything else seemed to melt away. He could feel a light, suggestive presence in his mind. It compelled him to accept anything Kurumu asked of him, to do whatever she said. It told him that Kurumu was his goddess, and he lived to please her. Harry almost gave into it, but a voice broke the hypnotizing stare that Harry was caught in.

"Harry-kun, I've been looking all over for you! Who's this?"

With a frown, Harry pushed Kurumu away. "What was that?" he asked. There was no more concern or compassion in his tone. This girl had just tried to use mind control on him.

It wasn't quite legilimency. She hadn't used a wand. Somehow, he doubted that such a strong compulsion could come from such a young witch anyway. Harry concluded that she must be some kind of monster with compulsion powers.

"What was what?"Moka asked. She walked toward the pair and stood next to Harry.

"She just tried to take control of my mind, Moka. I don't know what she did, but if you hadn't come when you did it might've worked."

Moka blushed. She was happy to be able to help her friend.

Kurumu scowled. "How did you break my charm? No man can resist a succubus' charm!"

"Umm, it's against the school rules to reveal your monster identity, Kuruno-san," Moka said timidly.

"More importantly, why the hell were you trying to mind control me?"

Kurumu giggled evilly. A crowd had already formed by this point. Everyone was excited to see a fight between the two hottest girls in school.

"It's very simple, actually. I plan to make every boy in school my love slave. I call it… the Youkai Academy Harem Transformation Plan!" Kurumu's expression quickly switched from smug to angry. "And you, Akashiya Moka, are getting in the way of that! All the boys are falling for you instead of me, so I decided that in order to defeat you, I'd have to steal Harry from you!" the girl cried. Harry could see now that the girl was willfully bouncing about to give everyone behind her a peek at her underwear and everyone in front a peek of her bouncing boobs.

Fortunately, after seeing her true colors, Harry was mostly unaffected. "Very original," he commented dryly because what weapon has a wizard got beside his wand and his sarcasm? "Are you a cheerleader too? All this high school drama needs is a scene where you "accidentally" trip Moka at lunch and Saizou to play your jock boyfriend."

Kurumu pouted. "That's so mean Harry-kun~"

Harry glared at her. "That's a horrible reason to try and mind control someone. Maybe if you weren't such a bitch, boys would fall for you without all the slimy hypnotics."

Kurumu froze, her mouth opening and closing in shock that someone could say such a thing to her.

Seeing that she was done speaking, Harry turned away from her dismissively. "Let's go, Moka. We wouldn't want to be late for class, would we?"

Harry heard an angry screech behind him, but he kept walking. Kuruno Kurumu wasn't worth his or Moka's time.

* * *

The phrase "hell hath no fury like a woman scorned" had to have been created with succubi in mind. Harry had only been separated from Moka for about two seconds before he found himself knocked unconscious and tied up in the infirmary.

Harry glared at the blue-haired succubus responsible. She sat in a chair beside him, filing her nails smugly. When she saw that he was awake, she smirked down at him.

"Good morning, Sleeping Beauty. Are you ready to become my love slave?"

"Fat chance, bitch," Harry hissed. He was almost afraid he had spoken in Parseltongue.

Kurumu flinched as if she'd been smacked. "Dammit, Harry. Why do you love her so much, anyway? She only uses you for blood."

"And you're much better? Besides, Moka is my friend. You're just a shallow skank with no soul and good looks."

Harry wouldn't typically say such things in front of a lady, but considering what Kurumu wanted to do to him, Harry wouldn't consider her a lady.

Again, Kurumu looked as though Harry had struck her. "Whatever. After this, you won't have any choice. Whatever's keeping you from my charm won't save you now."

Kurumu leaned in, clearly intending to kiss Harry. Harry struggled, whipping his head to the side. Harry knew almost instinctually that if her kiss landed, it would be game over for him.

Thankfully, the door slammed open before she could enslave Harry with her kiss. Moka marched up to the pair and shoved Kurumu so hard that she went flying out the window. Moka hurriedly untied him, and the pair were about to leave the room when Kurumu returned, fully transformed.

She had sprouted bat-like wings, a tail, and long, sharp nails. She grabbed Harry using the unexpectedly flexible tail and began to fly away. Moka grabbed onto him before Kurumu could get far. Kurumu hadn't expected the weight and dropped both of them in the forest.

_Everything always happens in this bloody forest_, Harry thought irritably.

Harry whipped out his wand and took aim at Kurumu, a hex already on the tip of his tongue, but Moka grabbed Harry's arm and shook her head, giving him a firm look.

"The other me wants to deal with her. She's very upset Kurumu tried to enslave you."

Harry nodded. Though not particularly happy, Harry obliged quickly. He tugged off the rosary with little effort, and the area was bathed in red light. The sky turned red, and bats came from seemingly out of nowhere to surround Moka's entire body.

Harry, who had been a bit too busy worrying about his imminent death during her first transformation, whistled in appreciation. "Sailor moon, eat your heart out," he muttered.

The transformed Moka smirked dangerously at Harry before turning to face her opponent. A harsh glare took over her features as she stared down the succubus.

"So the rumors are true then. You really are a vampire." Kurumu's voice shook nervously, but she was determined. "It doesn't matter! I shoulder an important mission to ensure the future survival of my race. We succubi are a dying race. In order to have children, I must find my Destined One amongst hundreds of men. You, Akashiya Moka, are a threat to my plan. For that reason, I will defeat you, even if you are a vampire!" Kurumu declared.

Harry watched the ensuing "fight" in shock. That was why she had wanted to enslave him. Harry had assumed that she was just a shallow, heartless, airhead whose only concern was high school popularity, but if what she was saying was true…

"Moka!" Harry called just as she was about to rip off Kurumu's wings. She paused, giving Harry time to slip in front of her and guard Kurumu with his body.

"I think she's had enough."

"What? This woman manipulated you. She tried to enslave you, and you want me to let her get away with it?" Moka gave Harry a look of utter bewilderment.

"You heard her. She only did it because she felt it was the only way to ensure the future of her race. It's all she knows. Besides, I think the beating you gave her was enough to teach her that that's no the way to go about it. I'm fine anyway, so you can leave her alone now."

Harry and Inner Moka continued to stare each other down. Surprisingly, Inner Moka looked away first. "Don't misunderstand, Harry. I only beat her because she thought she could steal your blood away from me. I'm not nearly as sentimental as the other Moka."

_Methinks the vampire doth protest too much_, Harry thought with a smile.

With that, Moka took back her rosary and snapped it onto the chain. As she had done last time, Moka fainted as soon as the rosary was reattached. Harry caught her just as he had the last time. The now pink-haired girl was held tightly in Harry's arms as he smiled warmly at her. Behind him, Kurumu watched with a gleam of envy in her eye.

* * *

The next day, when Harry and Moka were walking to homeroom, they were joined by a third person.

"Good morning, Harry-kun!"

Harry was surprised to see Kurumu again so soon. People typically stayed away from the person who had just soundly beaten them in a fight. Kurumu seemed to be ignoring Moka, but she had to have known that she would find her if she were looking for Harry.

When she caught up to them, Kurumu latched on to Harry's arm. Moka looked a bit miffed at that. Harry was focused on the box in Kurumu's hand.

"What's that?" Harry asked.

"I made you cookies!"

Harry raised a brow, clearly confused. "Why?"

"Well, remember when I said I was looking for my Destined One?"

Harry and Moka nodded.

"Yeah. Wait, have you found him?" Harry asked obliviously.

"Yes! I've decided that it has to be you, Harry-kun!"

"What?" Harry exclaimed.

Moka glared heatedly at Kurumu as she made her confession. "You risked your life to protect me, Harry-kun! You're definitely my Destined One! I've fallen in love with you!"

Harry was dumbstruck. He had literally been prepared to hex this girl blind just yesterday, and now she was saying that she wanted him to father her children? If he wasn't mistaken, that was what she'd said they needed a Destined One for… What was this girl's deal?

"Here, try one of my cookies!"

Moka growled possessively and tugged Harry away from Kurumu. The succubus tugged him back. Soon, Harry was caught in the middle of a violent tug of war between two monsters with superhuman strength. It was not fun despite all of the boobs.

_What the hell did I do to deserve this?_


	3. Witch and a Vampire

It was pretty much smooth sailing after Kurumu declared Harry as her Destined One. Of course, Harry knew that it was just the calm before the storm.

_Things never go this well for this long without some massive clusterfuck on the way._

The trio discovered the oncoming clusterfuck on the day after their first exams. The day was relatively average in the beginning. The results were posted on a board for the whole school to see. Moka, predictably, did extremely well. Harry and Kurumu, also predictably, didn't do so well.

Moka greeted Harry cheerfully. "I wonder what I got!" Moka said.

Harry pointed far down at the other end of the board. "Your grade is over there."

Moka noticed Harry's disappointed frown and patted him on the back. "It's alright, Harry-kun. I'll help you study for the next exams! I'm sure you'll do better!"

Harry smiled at her generosity. "Thank you! I hope I don't slow you down. I'd feel horrible if your grades dropped just so you could help me study."

"Oh, it's alright. How about we start this afternoon?"

Just as the two finished making arrangements, a metallic clang rang out from behind them.

Harry spotted a young girl with a strange looking wand laughing at a trio of boys who had just been crushed by golden wash pans. If Harry wasn't mistaken, he was about to have his first encounter with a Japanese witch.

The three boys got up, and the one who appeared to be their leader rushed at the young witch with his claws out. Moka rushed to defend her as soon as the boy had gotten up. She shielded the girl with her own body, much like Harry had shielded Kurumu not too long ago.

The boy stopped his attack when he saw who he was about to strike. Harry had his wand at the ready, fully prepared to throw hexes at the first sign of trouble. It wasn't needed. The boys retreated when they noticed the crowd.

The leader sneered at the girls. "Let's go. Seriously, being in the same class as that filthy race makes me want to puke." With that, he and his friends marched off with their figurative tails between their legs.

_Reminds me of Malfoy and his stupid henchmen,_ Harry thought disdainfully.

Harry turned away from the trio who were no longer a threat and back to the two girls. "Are you alright?" he asked.

The girl seemed to glare at him. Harry wondered what he had done. "I'm just fine, thank you. Moka-chan… thank you for saving me!"

Moka smiled sweetly at the little girl. "Any time, Yukari-chan! Us girls have to stick together, right?"

Yukari walked with them back to the cafeteria for lunch. Harry noticed that whenever he came close to Moka, Yukari would purposefully place herself between them. She chattered on with Moka, who had yet to notice, and praised her beauty and intelligence.

When they sat down to eat, Yukari revealed why she had been following them. "Moka-chan, I've been watching you since you came to this school and I have to tell you that I- well, I… I love you Moka-chan! Please go out with me."

Moka's eyes grew to the size of dinner plates at the proclamation, and Harry couldn't help but burst out laughing. Moka's expression was hilarious. The laughter died down, however, when Yukari jumped over the table and began to hug Moka and squeeze her boobs.

Shy, timid Moka wasn't sure what to do about the situation. She was clearly uncomfortable, but she didn't want to hurt Yukari's feelings. Harry had no such compunctions.

"Wingardium leviosa," Harry intoned. The spell hit Yukari, and she was up in the air. Harry glared at the little girl disapprovingly. "Yukari-chan, you can't just grab someone like that. It's incredibly rude and invasive. That's a very private area that should never be touched without permission. As a young lady, you should know that" Harry scolded.

Harry honestly felt like a babysitter at this point. How many times had he had to scold Kurumu or Moka like this, and they were his age? Now, he had to be responsible for scolding this little girl. Harry missed the times when he could leave it to Hermione to be responsible and just goof off with Ron.

Yukari glared fiercely at Harry. "I know who you are, Potter Harry-san."

Harry froze, awaiting what she would say. He was afraid that if she knew too much, he'd have to bind her tongue. He really didn't want to put a curse like that on such a young girl.

"Grades are so-so. No physical prowess. No interests or hobbies. You aren't worthy of my Moka-chan."

Harry was relieved that she didn't seem to know anything about his fame in Europe. That would've been a problem. "Moka belongs to no one. You have no right to dictate who she spends her time with. As a matter of fact, I think it's time you left."

With that, Harry levitated Yukari out into the halls and dropped her on her bum. Harry was about to leave when Moka grabbed him by the shoulder.

"Harry-kun, what was that? She's just a little kid!"

"A little kid who was molesting you. She needed to be taught a lesson. It's not like I hexed her or anything."

Moka was still angry. She looked like she was about to say something, but she just stormed off with a huff. "Yukari-chan! Are you alright?"

Harry rolled his eyes bitterly. _The brat wasn't even hurt. Moka should be thanking me. Merlin, I'll never understand girls._

Harry walked to his next period alone. He didn't see Moka or Yukari for the rest of the day. Kurumu seemed very happy with this new development.

* * *

The next day, Moka met Harry and Kurumu for breakfast. Yukari was trailing after her with her hands on her breasts.

"Potter Harry-san! I hereby challenge you for Moka-chan's heart!"

Before Harry could object, he was being pummeled by numerous golden wash pans.

"Yukari-chan! Stop hurting Harry-kun!" Moka cried.

Kurumu growled from beside Harry. Her tail lashed furiously, and her nails extended.

Yukari squeaked in alarm and dragged Moka away. This left Harry to nurse his wounds with Kurumu. Kurumu helped Harry up. He cast an episkey on his head to heal the numerous bumps beginning to form. Harry glowered at the door that Yukari and Moka had disappeared through.

"It's okay, Harry-kun. Who needs her anyway?" Kurumu said cheerfully. She was clearly hoping that Yukari would be a problem long enough for her to make Harry hers.

Harry wasn't listening. He was planning to meet up with Moka and Yukari after their next class together. This whole situation was irritating, and he wanted it resolved as soon as possible. Something grated at his instincts. Having another magical as an enemy would prove problematic.

* * *

Harry didn't leave after the end of his next class. Noticing that Harry wasn't leaving, Kurumu stayed as well. Moka, who couldn't stay upset at anyone, let alone Harry, stayed behind too. Yukari wouldn't leave Moka alone with Harry if her life depended on it.

"Moka, something has to give here. She won't listen to me, so I need you to talk to her."

"But… I don't really mind her. She's only a little kid…"

"That isn't any excuse for the way she's been behaving. For her sake, she has to learn that what she's doing is wrong, or someone who doesn't care that she's young will correct her much more harshly. Maybe even kill her. Remember those guys that attacked her the other day? They're hardly the only monsters in this school who dislike witches.

"You have to understand, Moka. I'm not just saying this for mine or her sake. She's the only other magical I know of at this school, and I'd feel responsible if she were to be hurt. Even if she does annoy me, I couldn't just allow that to happen."

"You-You're lying! You don't care what happens to me! You just want Moka-chan to yourself!" Yukari said. She waved her wand and a golden wash pan fell onto Harry.

Harry, who had expected the move, grabbed it out of the air and set it on the ground. "Really, Yukari-chan. If you keep attacking people like that, you'll have no friends. That's not something that a young witch can afford here."

"Who cares! I'm a genius. I don't need friends who are dumber than me, anyway. Besides, I was alone from the beginning, so there's no one for me to push away."

Harry's stern expression softened into one of understanding. He wanted to comfort the young girl, but then he was hit in the head by a gold tea kettle.

"Hahaha! Idiot! You've been fooled!" Yukari giggled.

Harry got up slowly, rubbing his head. "Merlin, those things hurt!" Harry glared at the door once again. That girl was going to be the death of him.

"Oh, dear. I have to go check on her."

"Check on _her_? I'm the one who's injured."

"It's _different_, Harry-kun. That girl is all alone! You of all people should understand why I have to help her. You are in a similar position to her, aren't you? A wizard in a school of monsters who hate your kind. You just said that she needs to make friends, didn't you? Well, I'm her friend, Harry, and I need to make sure she's alright!" With that, Moka ran out of the room to find Yukari.

Harry sighed. "She's right. Come on, Kurumu. I should apologize… to both of them."

* * *

When Harry and Kurumu finally arrived, it was to find three lizardmen about to chow down on Moka and Yukari. Without thinking, Harry jumped in front of a vicious slash meant for the young witch. The slashes burned as they were exposed to the cold air around them. Harry and Yukari tumbled away from the group of monsters, causing a bunch of dirt to get into the fresh wounds.

Harry hissed in pain as he pulled himself off of Yukari to face the lizardmen. "Episky," he cast on his back. The wounds sealed up a bit, but Harry knew that the weak healing spell wasn't going to completely heal the deep slashes. Yukari frowned at Harry.

"I didn't want your help," the young witch objected petulantly.

"I know, but I'm not so great at apologizing. I figure saving your arse should cut it."

Harry refocused on the lizardmen. One was targeting Moka, and the other two were charging him and Yukari. Harry noticed that Yukari's wand had been snapped.

He forced himself to stop thinking of his own wand being snapped at the trial. The thoughts of his trial brought back the rage he had felt when he had faced Saizou. A little voice in the wind called for blood and retribution. Harry answered.

Harry cast a bone breaking curse at the legs of the closest lizardman. An agonized scream left him as he fell on his face. The first lizard writhed around on the forest floor, further disturbing his broken legs.

The second, Harry hit with a conjunctivitis curse. He tripped over his friend whilst scratching desperately at his eyes. The sharp claws did more damage to his eyes than Harry's curse had.

"I can't see!" he cried in a panic. The two lizardmen wiggled pitifully on the ground.

Harry watched the scene before him dazedly. The spells he had cast sent tingles down his arm. Both were borderline dark spells. Harry hadn't meant to use those, but they had practically leaped to the forefront of his mind when he saw the lizardmen threatening his fellow magical.

Harry eventually took notice of the pained whimpering of the lizardmen cast Stupify on both of them. They abruptly fell limp. If it weren't for the rise and fall of their chests, Harry might've thought he'd just killed them. Harry turned back to Yukari who was looking at him in awe. It was an expression that the young witch usually reserved for Moka.

"That… that was… AMAZING! You have to teach me how to do that, Harry-kun!"

_When did I become "-kun"?_ Harry wondered.

Harry and Yukari rejoined their other two friends by the third lizardman who was lying face down with huge scratch marks all over his face and chest. Kurumu had a smug look on her face as Harry Stupified him. The Succubus was very proud that Moka had had to rely on her for protection.

Moka was smiling brightly at the group. "Thanks for saving me, Kurumu. Harry-kun! I'm so happy to see you and Yukari-chan finally getting along!"

Harry returned her smile. "Yeah, apparently all it took was three spells and nearly being shish kabobbed on lizard claws."

Moka laughed spritely. The light-hearted giggles were contagious, spreading quickly to Yukari and Harry and finally Kurumu. The group stood amongst the unconscious bodies of their enemies and laughed freely. It was the lightest Harry had felt in months. Things were finally going well, and Harry would enjoy it as long as it lasted.

* * *

After the fight with the Lizardmen, Yukari learned her lesson. She apologized to all of her classmates for all of the mean tricks she had played on them, and in return, they started to treat her better. Another less favorable outcome of the fight was Yukari's new crush.

"I love you Harry-kun!"

Moka and Kurumu looked on in confusion as the young witch pounced on Harry as she had done to Moka a few days ago. Harry tried to tug the girl off of him, but she clung onto him like a bear.

"Hey! Harry-kun is mine! Get off of him right now!" Kurumu yelled.

Once again, Harry was caught in a tug of war.

"No! Harry-kun is mine!" Moka cried.

She pounced on him, knocking the whole group to the floor and accidentally cracking Harry's skull against the tiles. Harry was seeing stars on the floor while the girls argued over him.

"Now look what you've done!"

"Oh no! I'm so sorry, Harry-kun!"

Harry groaned unintelligibly on the floor while the girls continued to fight. Somehow, he was certain that this was not the last time this would happen.


	4. Fanboys and a Vampire

It hadn't been very long since the incident with the lizardmen. School was back to normal, and everyone seemed to be at peace. Harry, on the other hand, was anxious. It seemed to him that every time he began to relax, something else came along to put him and his friends in danger. Harry was _sick _of being in danger.

Harry was in his room, writing multiple orders for books and potions to the nearby magical community. He was getting a veritable library full of spell books and books on monsters. There were orders for all different types of potions from healing draughts to poisons. Had anyone looked at the orders Harry was writing, they'd think he was preparing for a war. They would be correct.

Harry sat at his desk, pouring over the books that he had brought and reading almost obsessively. He had let himself slip since leaving Hogwarts, and the last fight had shown him that. Had he been only a few seconds later, Yukari would've been dead… just like Cedric.

Harry gulped at the thought. He had been putting the thought of Cedric to the very back of his mind since the end of fourth year. The constant fights and struggle for survival had forced it to resurface. The memories of Cedric's death only made Harry more manic in his need to learn. He had to protect his friends.

The conversation he'd had with Moka when he'd first come to Youkai Academy came to mind. All of his friends were female. If any of them were cornered or taken down by any of their classmates, they could be forced into marriage… or worse. Harry wouldn't allow it. He had been slacking because he no longer attended a magic school. No more.

The memory of Cedric's death had brought Harry a bit of clarity. He'd had to watch Cedric die because he was weak. He couldn't let it happen again, not to Moka, not to Kurumu, not to Yukari, and not to Ron or Hermione or any of the members of the Order. Harry sealed off his last order with an air of finality. Harry wouldn't allow his friends to get hurt because of his own weakness. He would get stronger. Harry vowed that he would be strong enough to protect his friends from any threat, even Voldemort himself.

* * *

Harry waited at the bus stop for the bus to arrive. The bus only came once a month, and Harry was hoping that the Bus Driver would be willing to deliver his orders to the nearby magical community. The wait only served to give Harry more time to his thoughts. That was the _last _thing Harry wanted.

He tried to distract himself, but his mind had become a whirlwind of memories. Memories of the Dursleys and their _loving _treatment came to mind along with the harsh sting of rejection that still followed the thought of his so-called family. Memories of fourth year plagued Harry, having to watch Cedric die and then being used to resurrect Voldemort. Harry could still remember the feeling of the cruciatus curse as it delivered a neverending stream of pain to every nerve in his body.

A sudden sound snapped Harry back to reality. He almost sagged in relief at the distraction. For some reason, Harry had been unable to pull himself from his thoughts. Harry looked around, trying to find the source of the sound. He turned to see a trio of monsters all glaring at him angrily.

Harry raised a brow in confusion at the looks he was receiving. "Can I help you lot?"

The presumed leader stepped forward, out of the cover of the forest. "Are you Potter Harry-san of class 1-3?"

Harry nodded hesitantly, his hand going to his wand just in case. The three began to chuckle darkly at his nonverbal response. The other two followed their leader into the light. They were all upperclassmen.

The leader was only a bit taller than Harry himself and had short blond hair. The one to his left had long, dark hair and round glasses that looked suspiciously like Harry's own. The last one was chubby and had dirty blond hair. The trio all stalked towards Harry in a way that was clearly meant to be threatening.

"I am Kouzou Kasahara, leader of the Moka-sama fan club."

"Gouzaburo Taira, leader of the Kurumu-chan fan club."

"Kubisaku Naga, leader of the Yukari-chan fan club."

"We've been watching you, Potter Harry. You have been surrounding yourself with our goddesses, but you don't deserve them," Naga hissed.

"Now you're all alone," Taira chuckled darkly.

"So prepare to face divine punishment, Potter Harry!" Kasahara finished.

With a loud battle cry, the three transformed into their monster forms. Harry watched cautiously with his wand held at the ready. When the smoke cleared, the sight of the trio gave Harry pause. The three boys' monster forms were… underwhelming.

The leader, Kasahara, turned into some sort of half umbrella monster with human legs. Taira just became fatter. Harry assumed that he was a blob of some sort because his rolls were drooping, and his skin had begun to secrete a weird slimy substance. Naga, the eldest, just had a really long neck.

Harry, though sometimes a little thick-headed, wasn't one to make the same mistake twice. His wand was still held at the ready. He wouldn't underestimate the trio based on appearances.

Kasahara was the first to attack, and the other two followed soon after. Kasahara spun the umbrella that was his upper body, creating a strong wind that almost knocked Harry into the lake beside the bus stop.

"Petrificus Totalus!" Harry cast. Kasahara was forced to stop spinning, thus canceling his wind. This gave Harry the chance to deal with the other two.

"Lumos Maxima!"

The spell blinded Naga, but Taira's eyes were naturally squinted in his monster form. He recovered quickly and charged at Harry, but without Naga to cover for him, he wasn't much of a threat.

"Orbis!"

Taira was sucked into the ground, leaving only his shoulders and head exposed. Naga struck his extended neck out at the sound of Harry's voice. He hadn't recovered from the flash yet, but he was determined to beat Harry. Harry could almost respect him for that if he hadn't been perving on an 11-year-old girl. But, seeing as he has…

"Flipendo duo!"

The long neck shot backward at the jinx. Naga fell back onto the dirt, apparently knocked unconscious.

Harry looked around at the trio. They were all soundly defeated, but Harry's vindictive side had been awakened by the stress his memories had brought him. They had chosen the wrong day to fight Harry Potter.

Harry walked looked around at the trio and smirked as a few ideas came to him.

"Furnunculus. Slugulus eructo. Tarantellegra."

Naga's face became covered in pimples. The still unconscious monster didn't seem to notice, but Harry thought it was hilarious anyway. Taira began to belch slugs, all of which were as slimy as he was. Kasahara's spell-induced petrification was canceled in favor of the dancing jinx. The dancing umbrella man sent Harry into full-blown giggles.

As annoying as the trio might've been, they _had _brought Harry out of his depressing retrospection. That, and they were a great source of entertainment while he'd been waiting for the bus. Harry decided to have mercy and cancel his spells. He then revived Naga so that he could leave with the rest of his friends.

Before the trio could leave, Harry gave them a few parting words. "I'd better not see any of you hanging around and stalking my friends. If I do, I won't be nearly as kind," Harry warned. The threat had the desired effect of scaring the three monsters, but then something else happened that he wasn't expecting.

The trio all got to their knees and bowed to him. "From this day forth, the Kurumu-chan, Yukari-chan, and Moka-sama fan clubs are disbanded! We are now the Harry-sama fan club! Please forgive us for our impudence, Harry-sama!"Kasahara announced.

Harry's jaw dropped at the sight. "Are you all mad?" Harry exclaimed, completely bewildered.

"Have we insulted you again, Harry-sama?" Naga asked mournfully.

"Please punish us, Harry-sama! We have failed you!" Taira cried.

The three boys continued to prostrate themselves before Harry. They all cried waterfalls of tears as they begged for his forgiveness. It was to this scene that the Bus Driver was greeted when he finally arrived at Youkai Academy.

Harry looked up from the three blubbering boys to see the Bus Driver smirking at him. "Already got yourself a few slaves, huh? And here I thought you'd be here begging me to take you back to England."

"That is not what this is!" Harry argued fiercely.

"We would gladly be your slaves, Harry-sama!" Kasahara cried from behind him.

"Go away!" Harry yelled in return.

"Yes, Harry-sama! Anything you ask!"

"No, stop calling me that!" Unfortunately, the three were gone before they could hear it. Harry knew that they would still be calling him Harry-sama the next time they saw him.

Harry spent the next few minutes trying and failing to convince the Bus Driver that he hadn't enslaved the three boys. After a while, he gave up and asked him to deliver his orders for him. Luckily, the Bus Driver didn't seem to mind being used as a delivery man.

* * *

That evening, when Harry was eating dinner with his friends, the fan club trio came up again in conversation. Moka, Kurumu, and Yukari all mentioned that someone had been stalking them all day only to suddenly stop. Harry tried to look inconspicuous as the conversation carried on, but the girls saw straight through it. Harry's face heated up as all three of them leveled him with an assessing look when he failed to say anything.

"I'd have expected you to be at least a bit mad at all this, Harry-kun," Moka noted suspiciously.

"Yeah. I think it's a bit odd that they all just suddenly stopped, too. That, and Harry-kun's being unusually quiet…" Yukari trailed off.

"Either Harry-kun doesn't care what happens to us anymore-" Kurumu started. Harry began to protest her claim vehemently. Kurumu cut him off. "Or… Harry-kun took care of them for us."

Harry refused to meet any of their eyes. "They tried to jump me at the bus stop. They failed. End of story."

Of course, the universe simply _loved _to contradict Harry, so who would enter the cafeteria but the new Harry Potter fan club.

"HARRY-SAMA!" the trio chorused, drawing the attention of everyone in the cafeteria. The three rushed up to the table where Harry sat with his friends.

"Stop calling me that!"

"But- but- but-" Kasahara stuttered tearfully.

"No buts! Stop it! It's weird as all hell, and I hate it! Now go away, you three! Everyone's looking over here now!" Harry scolded. His cheeks were flushed red as the entire school watched him interact with the three fanboys. Worst of all, his three friends were staring at him with weirded out looks.

"Harry-sama is so adorable when he's mad! I can't take it!" Naga exclaimed.

His nose began to bleed, and that was the last straw for Harry. "I am not adorable! Mobilicorpus!"

Harry threw the trio out of the cafeteria. The three girls were still staring at him like he'd grown another head. Harry flushed even redder in his embarrassment.

"What just happened?" Kurumu asked.

"I- I don't really know," Moka mumbled.

"It would seem that Harry-kun has stolen our stalkers. Thank you for that," Yukari said with a wide smile.

"It's not like I wanted them to start stalking me!" Harry protested.

Kurumu smirked teasingly. "_Sure_ you didn't, Harry-kun. Y'know, if you wanted some extra attention, you could've just asked."

Before Harry could protest, she latched onto Harry's arm, placing it firmly between her breasts. Harry's blush spread all the way to the tips of his ears. Moka pouted enviously at them.

"Hey, I wanna hug Harry-kun too." With that, she latched onto Harry's other arm. "Harry-kun… may I have a bite?" Moka asked shyly.

Harry was too out of it to answer. There was only so much a teenage boy could handle.

"You two are killing him! Harry-kun! Don't go into the light!" Yukari exclaimed dramatically.

Just a normal day at Youkai Academy.


	5. Swimming Club and a Vampire

"I'm happy to announce that as of today, a red telephone has been installed, so you can contact the human world at any time! Also, the bus's schedule has been increased to every day!" Ms. Nekonome announced.

Harry blinked in surprise before a smile spread across his face. He might not have to wait another month for those books and potions after all. That was a relief. A few more days of Moka sucking his blood and he'd be in the infirmary. There were more than a few blood-replenishing potions on their way.

"Furthermore, I'm happy to announce that club season has begun! In order to blend in with humans better, we aim to conduct school as similarly to them as possible. That means that all of you will have to join a club! I highly recommend the newspaper club, hosted by yours truly!" Ms. Nekonome continued.

Harry made eye contact with Moka, Kurumu, and Yukari. They all made an unspoken agreement to join the same club. With a nod, Harry turned back to the front of the classroom.

* * *

Out in the courtyard, there were a variety of clubs all trying to get the freshmen to join. Moka and Kurumu, in particular, were getting a lot of offers. Harry had his wand at the ready in case anyone tried to touch either of them. Their school was filled to the brim with perverts, and he'd be damned if he joined a club with them.

There were many clubs including a mummy club, an acupuncture club, and even a potions club. Harry was already put off by the fact that it was potions, but then the males of the club started trying to offer Moka and Kurumu love potions. Harry vanished the potions with a sharp glare. The potions club members scampered off quickly at the look. Harry's reputation did come in handy every now and then.

The group looked at nearly every club in the school, but it seemed that nothing was there that didn't involve fighting or perving. Harry sighed in disappointment. At the rate they were going, they'd have to join the newspaper club. Harry didn't have a great reputation with the newspaper, to say the least. Harry was almost ready to give up and ask about her club, but something caught his eye.

"The Swimming club, huh? That seems pretty normal…" Harry trailed off. He looked towards the Swimming Club members who were advertising their club. Harry noticed something particularly important about the Swimming Club. There were no guys in it which meant there was a far lesser chance for people to perv on Moka or Kurumu.

Harry smiled. "Sounds like a great idea! Let's go take a look, girls!"

Moka seemed a bit nervous, though. "Erm, Harry-kun. Me and water don't… I can't…"

"You can't swim?" Harry finished.

"Well, no, but that's not…"

"C' mon Harry-kun! Let's go! I want you to see me in my swimsuit!" Kurumu interrupted. She then proceeded to drag Harry off by the arm. Harry caught a glimpse of a wicked look in Kurumu's eye, and he couldn't help but feel worried for himself.

* * *

By the time they got to the pool and Kurumu got Harry into a pair of swim trunks, Harry had forgotten that Moka was trying to tell him something. Harry waited in the pool while Kurumu and Yukari got changed. While he waited, the captain of the swimming club attempted to help him swim.

"It's alright. I can swim fine on my own. Might wanna help that poor bloke, though," Harry said, pointing to one of the new Swimming Club members who looked like he was about to drown.

"Nonsense. One of my girls can help him. Your form needs some improvement, so I'll stay over here and help you."

Harry felt a bit wary of the swim captain. She seemed to have some sort of alternative agenda, and Harry didn't like it. "No, I insist. I'm alright here."

With that, the swim captain swam off, looking a bit disappointed. Harry looked back towards the dressing rooms where Kurumu and Yukari were still getting dressed. Then, he saw Moka sitting against the fence by herself.

"Are you alright, Moka? Why are you sitting over there all alone?" Then Harry remembered, and he nearly smacked himself in the head when he did. "Oh, damn. I nearly forgot! You don't know how to swim! It's alright, Moka. If you want, I could teach you."

Harry blushed when Moka smiled at the offer. Then her smile shifted into a frown, and Harry was concerned yet again.

"I'd love to, Harry-kun, but-"

"Harry- kuuuuuun!" Kurumu called, interrupting Moka once again. Kurumu ran out of the changing room and jumped into the pool… directly on top of Harry.

Harry struggled to resurface, but Kurumu was practically strangling him. Then, just as he managed to get Kurumu off of him, Yukari jumped onto him, knocking him right back into the water.

_Can't. Breathe._

Yukari was a lot easier to remove, but he just barely got out of the water in time to prevent himself from drowning. When he looked up again, Moka was gone. Harry narrowed his eyes in confusion, his concern returning full force at the absence of his friend.

"Hey." The sound of Harry's voice paused Kurumu and Yukari's quarreling. "Have either of you seen Moka? She was just here a moment ago. I'm a bit worried with all the pervs in one spot today…"

Kurumu and Yukari both looked away guiltily. Harry was suspicious.

"Did you two do something?"

Yukari cracked first, as expected. "No! We just… might've neglected to tell you something when we came here."

"What did you "neglect" to tell me, Yukari?" Harry asked, his voice stern.

"Erm, well, vampires here, they can't… water weakens them. Kurumu and I didn't tell you because we wanted you to ourselves just for a little while." Tears beaded in Yukari's eyes as she looked up at Harry. "Please don't hate me, Harry-kun."

"Yukari, I don't hate you. If you wanted to spend more time with me, you could've just asked instead of making Moka feel excluded like that. Just stay here. I'll go find her."

Harry tried to get out of the water, but a hand stopped him. Harry spun around, expecting to see one of his friends, but the one who stopped Harry was the swim captain, Ichinose. Ichinose smiled sweetly at him, but Harry could see right through her. Her eyes were predatory, and knowing monsters, that was in the literal sense.

"Harry-kun… you can't leave us so soon. You'll miss the feast."

As soon as the words left her mouth, all of the swim club members transformed. They all grew tails, fins, and deadly sharp teeth. Harry pulled his wand from the pocket of his swim trunks and hexed the swim captain away from him. He jumped out of the pool, away from the blood-thirsty mermaids.

"Girls, get out of the water!" Harry yelled.

Kurumu and Yukari, seeing the feast that was happening around them, hopped out of the pool beside Harry. In the pool, the other male recruits were being sucked dry. Instead of blood, the mermaids were consuming the males' life essence. Harry couldn't do any sort of mass attack, or he'd hit the people he was trying to save too. That left him with the option of hitting each one individually.

"Stupify! Relashio! Bombarda!"

Harry cast all the spells that came to mind, careful to avoid the more deadly ones like reducto or diffindo. He was making slow progress, but Kurumu and Yukari were a big help. Yukari seemed to be picking up a few spells from Harry on the spot, like the little genius she was. Kurumu was slashing at mermaids left and right, but it wasn't doing much good. Most of them just ducked underwater before any of their attacks could land, and getting in the water was suicide.

They had no choice. If they continued to stay on land, all of the boys in the water would die. The three all jumped into the water on some unspoken cue. They were immediately swarmed by the mermaids. Ichinose herself was at the head of the attack. Harry was throwing hexes left and right, but they kept coming. Eventually, Harry was completely surrounded.

_Shit, shit shit. At this point, I'll die before the guys I was trying to save. I can't let Kurumu or Yukari get hurt. _

With that thought in mind, Harry aimed his wand at Yukari and Kurumu. "Ascendio!"

The two girls flew out of the water while Harry himself was swarmed. The first to grab him, Ichinose, latched onto his arm, sucking out his life essence. This started off a feeding frenzy. Soon, Harry was being bitten all over. The weight of all the mermaids was pulling him under, but Harry didn't have the strength to keep himself up.

_Of all the ways I thought I was gonna die. This is not one of them._

Right before the last of the mermaids latched onto him, Harry heard a yell from above. "Harry-kun!"

_That sounds like… Moka._

Harry felt a splash from the water behind him and a hand gripping his before there was the familiar feeling of a rosary in his hand. Harry ran out of breath before he could see her transform.

* * *

When Harry came to, he was in the infirmary. By his bed were two healing potions. Harry drank both of them with a grimace. They tasted awful. When Harry looked around, he noticed that all of his friends were surrounding him. They were all watching Harry with concerned looks. Harry smiled at them to let them know that he was feeling better. The trio sighed in relief.

"Glad to know that you three still care," Harry teased.

"We were so worried! Kurumu and I couldn't get down from your spell until you passed out. We thought you were dead!" Yukari exclaimed tearfully.

Harry's expression softened. "I'm sorry I worried you. I just didn't want either of you to get hurt," Harry replied with a soothing smile. Then he turned to Moka. "Thanks for the save Moka and Inner Moka. I owe you both."

"You don't owe us anything! What kind of friend would I be if I just sat by and let you get eaten by mermaids!" Moka protested vehemently. Then she turned her head downward to glare at her rosary. "You shut up. He's your friend too."

Harry chuckled. "I'm flattered."

The rosary glowed brightly, and Harry was glad that he couldn't hear Inner Moka at the moment.

The group sat around Harry's bed having a laugh at the vampire's expense. When the laughter died down, a thought came to Harry.

"Hey, girls… we still haven't picked out a club," Harry noted.

"Oh, right. But we've looked at just about all of them, haven't we?"

"Not all of them!" a sing-song voice called from outside the infirmary. Ms. Nekonome entered the room and approached the group cheerfully. "I was just passing by when I heard that none of you have a club yet. There's still newspaper club! Why don't you come join?"

Harry shared looks between all of his friends. They seemed to like the idea, so Harry reluctantly agreed. Despite his own hang-ups about newspapers, this probably wouldn't be nearly as bad as the Daily Prophet.

Ms. Nekonome cheered. "Wahoo! Four new members! And here I thought nobody would join this year!"

"Wait, nobody joined except for us?" Kurumu asked dubiously.

"Nope!" Ms. Nekonome answered.

_What kind of club did I just join? _Harry thought mournfully.


	6. Werewolf and a Vampire

It was the first day of Newspaper Club. Harry and his friends sat side by side in Ms. Nekonome's classroom. Ms. Nekonome was happily explaining the duties of the Newspaper Club. While she was talking, Harry was looking around the room. There was no one else in the classroom. It seemed that they weren't just the only recruits… they might just be the only club members.

Just as Harry raised his hand to ask, a voice came from the door. It slid open to reveal a tall boy with long black hair held back by a red bandana. He held two large bouquets in his hands and he wore a charming, butter-wouldn't-melt-in-his-mouth smirk like he was born with it on his face.

"Sorry for being late for the first day of activities, but I had to pick up these flowers." Gin walked directly to the girls, not even sparing Harry a look. "Beautiful flowers for beautiful ladies. Oh?" Gin seemed to notice that Yukari didn't have any flowers. He took a single flower from Kurumu's bouquet and handed it to Yukari. "Even though you're young, you are still a lady."

Gin's smile grew as he looked at the three girls admiring his flowers. Harry couldn't help the small pulse of jealousy that struck him when the girls directed their beaming smiles towards Gin. They all seemed very flattered at his gifts. Harry didn't say anything about it because Gin could just be a polite upperclassman. Harry would still keep a close eye on him, though. As of the first month, Harry didn't trust any of the males at Youkai Academy.

Harry stayed quiet as Ms. Nekonome explained that Gin was the only other member of the Newspaper Club. Harry's suspicions grew at that. With the current trends at this hell school, he wouldn't be surprised if Gin had eaten all of the other club members. Harry took a mental note not to allow him alone with any of the girls.

Of course, that plan failed the moment club activities began. Their first case as the Newspaper Club was a serial peeping tom. Harry wasn't at all surprised that that was the problem. In fact, he was surprised that it didn't happen every day at Youkai Academy. With the number of perverts walking around the school, it would take forever to find which one was doing these specific peepings.

Harry sighed as he was once again sent off to get more posters. When he returned, Kurumu and Moka were placing the posters up on the wall. Both of them looked like they were struggling, so Harry offered his help.

"Hey, you know that Yukari and I could just stick them up there with magic, right?"

When he heard Harry's voice, Gin leaped to his feet from where he'd been crouching on the floor. Harry narrowed his eyes in suspicion.

"What the hell were you doing down there?" Harry asked.

"I was, um, directing the girls on where to put the posters," Gin said.

"So why were you crouching so low? What exactly were you trying to see down there, pervert?" Harry growled.

Gin looked positively affronted. It was an impressive performance, but Harry had seen what he was doing with his own two eyes. Moka and Kurumu turned around, their hands covering their underwear. Bright blushes burned their cheeks and they quickly descended the ladders. They both glared at Gin furiously.

"Why would you accuse me of such a thing, Harry-kun? Do you really think someone like me would do that?" he asked innocently.

"You were peeping? That's so disgusting," Moka said.

"Only Harry-kun can look at my panties," Kurumu growled.

Gin left the room with two bright red, hand-shaped marks on his cheeks and a possible concussion from a large metal pan falling on his head. After he left, Harry and Yukari put up the posters around the school properly while Moka and Kurumu carried around two separate stacks for them. The four friends were determined to continue with club activity even without Gin present.

* * *

After the incident with Gin, the school day carried on as normal. Harry had almost forgotten about by lunch. Everything fell back into routine with Harry and the girls. Moka asked him for some of his blood at lunch, and Kurumu attempted to suffocate him with her boobs immediately after. Then, Kurumu and Yukari started to fuss with each other, and Moka and Harry were left to watch. By the end of the day, Harry was ready to go to bed, but fate had other plans.

Gin approached Harry on his way to his dorm room. "Harry!" Gin called.

Harry turned, his hand reaching for his wand, ready to be attacked. He was surprised to see Gin with his hands up in surrender. He didn't put his hand down, but he nodded to Gin, allowing his club president to speak.

"Look, I'm really sorry for the whole peeping incident earlier."

"You're telling that to the wrong person," Harry interrupted, glaring suspiciously at Gin.

"I know. I just wanted to apologize to you first because I know from all the rumors how protective you are of your girls… especially Moka-chan."

Harry's glare only increased in intensity. "If this is your attempt at an apology, you're failing badly. There is no "especially" anything. They are all my friends and they're all the friends I have here. You peeped at two of their panties. Give me one good reason why I shouldn't hex you for it right here and now."

"I found the peeping tom."

Harry was surprised at that answer, but his suspicions weren't abated one bit. "Yeah, and I bet it's you."

Gin seemed shocked. "No, of course not. Look, I saw him in that building over there. I thought maybe if the two of us caught him together, you'd be able to rely on me as a senpai again. So, what do you think?"

Harry wasn't particularly enthusiastic about spending more time with Gin, but he figured it would be best if there were no tensions in their little club. So, against his better judgment, Harry followed Gin to the building that he had pointed out. When they arrived, Gin pointed out a small window and instructed Harry to climb up onto one of the metal drums and take pictures of the peeping tom.

Harry was already suspicious, but he got on top of the metal drum anyway. _The things I do to keep the peace around here, _Harry grumbled in his mind. When Harry looked through the window, he saw something that, in all honesty, he'd almost been expecting. Through the window was a girls' changing room, and behind him, Harry heard a flash go off.

Immediately after he'd heard the flash, Harry jumped off of the metal drum. "You set me up," Harry accused almost dejectedly. "I'm honestly not that surprised."

Gin smirked at Harry, not nearly as charming as the ones he'd used on the girls. This one was devious. "Yeah. You know, I've had my eye on Moka ever since she got to this school. She's hot and powerful and you. don't. deserve. her. I'm gonna show her that you're not worth her time. Then she'll be mine." Gin gave Harry an evil look before yelling, "Hey! I found the peeping tom!"

Before Harry could react, Gin was gone. Harry cast a disillusionment charm on himself and took off as well, not wanting to be anywhere near the changing room when the girls came out to look. When Harry made it a good distance away, he looked back to see Gin glaring directly at him. Harry had expected it. After all, the disillusionment couldn't hide his scent.

Harry smirked back at Gin. This was only the beginning. If he thought he was going to take Moka, then he was mistaken. With a showy wand movement, Harry hid his scent as well as casting the disillusionment charm to make himself completely disappear. Unknown to both of them, they were having similar thoughts.

_Well played, Gin. _

_Well played, Harry._

* * *

The next day, Harry noticed several people staring at him and whispering. A few girls even glared at him. Harry had an idea of what was going on, but that didn't prepare him for the sight he got when he was walking to 's classroom. On the wall outside of the school building was a giant poster with the picture of Harry peeking into the girls' changing room. Harry's eyebrow twitched in annoyance at the stunt. He'd be a lot more upset if he didn't already know there was a way to prove his innocence. Still, it wasn't exactly fun to have his reputation tarnished… again.

_I expected rumors and pictures spread about, but this… Gin's certainly outdone himself._

Just as he was about to rip down the poster, he noticed that there were posters just like it on nearly every wall in the school. Harry barked out a laugh at that. Gin had just made a _huge _mistake. He'd challenged the son of a marauder to a prank war.

_Alright, Gin. If it's a war you want, it's a war you'll get._

Harry levitated all of the posters into a pile before burning the lot of them. He turned from the burning pile to get to his next class, but then he was greeted with yet another obstacle.

"There's the pervert! Get him!"

A mob of girls was charging towards Harry with fury burning in their eyes. Half of them were transformed. All of them were murderous.

"Ah, shit."

Harry knew that communication was useless at that point. They were all out to kill him. If Harry wanted to survive, he'd have to run. He cast another disillusionment charm on himself and ran for his life. An angry woman was a dangerous thing indeed.

* * *

Harry made it to the Newspaper Club in one piece, somehow. When he got to the room, he dropped the disillusionment charm and slammed the door shut. Everyone was already there, and they were all giving Harry odd looks. Gin he was watching Harry with an amused look in his eye. Instead of the devilish grin he had given him the day before, Gin showed Harry the same charming smile he always used in the presence of the girls.

"Hey, Harry-kun. You've been busy lately, haven't you?"

Harry glared at Gin. "You'd know, wouldn't you, Gin-_senpai_." He said "senpai" mockingly, and Gin knew how it was meant.

Before their conversation could continue, Harry was met with an angry Moka. "I can't believe you," she said.

Harry blinked in surprise. She couldn't possibly believe this bullshit, could she? She had to know that he'd been framed. They'd surely known each other for long enough now that she'd know that Harry would never do something like this.

"I hate perverts." That was all she said before marching out of the classroom angrily.

Harry watched her leave, too shocked to say anything. Was it really that easy for her to believe that he was the peeping tom? After all the shit they'd been through?

Harry felt his heart sink in his chest. This whole idiotic competition with Gin hadn't been all that serious before because he hadn't believed that his friends would actually buy any of it. Now…

Harry glared at Gin before running out of the classroom to catch up with Moka. He needed to set things straight. If not, this would turn into the same mess as second year. Harry couldn't let that happen.

* * *

It was already nightfall by the time Harry found Moka. He'd searched the whole of the forest and the school, but he couldn't find her. He'd finally decided to search the roof, and he found her there… along with Gin.

"You still want to believe him? Harry is just a filthy pervert, Moka. He moved the drum specifically so that he could see into the girls' changing room."

Harry was about to hex the lying bastard, but he was stopped by a hand on his arm. Harry looked behind him to see Yukari. The young witch put a finger to her lips conspiratorily. Harry didn't know what was going on, but he decided to trust her.

Kurumu made her appearance on the roof, dressed in a Sherlock Holmes outfit. Harry smiled fondly at the sight of Kurumu defending him. She really hadn't believed a word of what Gin had told everyone, even with the pictures.

"Is that so? And how would you know that?" Kurumu objected.

Gin stumbled a bit, not having expected anyone to defend Harry. "Well, it's all in the photos."

Gin handed the photos to Kurumu. She inspected them with a spying glass for show before declaring. "There aren't any drums in these pictures, only Harry-kun's upper half is shown."

Gin lost a bit of his composure at that. "Oh. I- I went to the scene to check it out after I saw the pictures. Even though I'd never been before. I could clearly see that he'd used the drum for support," Gin defended.

"And you knew that Harry-kun moved the drum?"

"Yes. The drum wasn't there originally."

"But didn't you say that you hadn't been to the scene before? How would you know where the drum was supposed to be?"

Gin was starting to sweat a bit.

"You already knew about the peeping spot, and you knew that the drum was used to reach the window. Furthermore, you were at the scene where these pictures were taken!"

Harry grinned as Gin began to stutter that she couldn't have proof of that. He'd begun to trip himself up. It seemed that Harry wouldn't even have to convince Moka that he wasn't the peeping tom. Kurumu was about to do it for him. Harry nearly had to wipe away a tear; he was so proud.

Kurumu smirked. Gin had fallen into her trap. "Of course I can prove it. You said that you'd gone to the scene of the crime _after _it was committed, but that's impossible. The girls moved the drum after the original peeping incident so that it wouldn't happen again. The only way you could've known about the drum is if you were there when the supposed peeping actually happened! Besides that, there are a few people who testified that you moved the drum before the incident occurred."

"But that would mean that…" Moka trailed off before she could finish, not truly wanting to believe it.

"That's right, Moka-chan!" Yukari said as she and Harry walked towards the assembled group. "Gin-senpai is the real peeping tom!"

Gin whipped around at the sound of Yukari's voice. The shuffle caused even more pictures to pour out of his pockets. Kurumu bent down to inspect them, and the pictures were even more damning. They were pictures of all the peeping tom victims… in their underwear.

Harry barked out an almost Sirius-like laugh. "Caught red-handed Gin-_senpai,_" Harry mocked.

Gin flushed red, whether from anger or embarrassment, no one knew. "Enough," Gin said suddenly. "If I can't make you choose me, Akashiya Moka, I'll force you to be mine."

With that, Gin leaped away from the group. Everyone turned to watch what would happen, and Harry withdrew his wand. Gin's face elongated, and his teeth grew sharper. Fur sprouted from everywhere on his body, and a tail lashed furiously behind him. Even though he didn't look like the ones in Europe, Harry knew immediately what Gin was.

"A-a werewolf," Moka whispered fearfully. "With the moon as bright as it is tonight, we won't stand a chance. Harry, you have to take off my rosary _right now._"

Harry shook his head defiantly. "No way. This bastard gives werewolves everywhere a bad name. My uncle, Remus, is a werewolf. Even if it's a different kind, he'd be disappointed if I ever let a man like Gin anywhere near the girls I care about. Besides. Don't you think it'd be a bit overkill if Inner Moka and I _both _took on this perverted chihuahua?" Harry said.

_The girls he… what?_ the girls all thought in unison.

Harry stared down the wolf on the other side of the roof. "Come on, then, Gin!"

The girls ran to the relative safety of the stairway. Without her powers, Moka wouldn't be much help. Neither Kurumu nor Yukari could hope to stand up to an S-class monster. They'd only get in Harry's way, but if Harry started to struggle, they'd help.

Gin smirked wolfishly(pun intended) at Harry. "You think a wizard is any match for an S-class monster? You sure got a lot of balls, Potter," he growled.

"So I've been told."

Gin charged Harry, nearly disappearing in the light of the full moon. Even with his glasses on, Harry couldn't track him.

"What are you looking at, Harry-_kun? _I'm over here~. How do you expect to beat me if you can't even see me?"

"One lucky hit'll do the trick."

Gin growled at that. He disappeared once again. Harry turned and hexed the spot behind him. Gin hit him from the side instead. Harry cast a cushioning charm on the wall before he could hit it. Even with the invisible cushion, the impact still knocked the breath out of Harry. Gin appeared directly in front of Harry with his claws pulled back.

"Depulso!"

The spell hit, but it didn't do much damage. Gin hit the wall he was thrown into with his feet. He launched off the wall immediately after contact. Harry looked back and forth. All that he could see of Gin were flashes of brown all over the place. By the time he sent the hex at a certain place, Gin was already gone. The only times he got any hits in were when Gin stopped to attack him.

The two boys threw each other around the roof, neither sustaining any lasting damage. Gin howled eerily, his voice everywhere and nowhere at once due to his speed. He hadn't attacked Harry in a few minutes. He was obviously hoping to catch Harry with his guard down, but Harry wasn't making it easy for him.

The girls watched anxiously from the stairwell, screaming in alarm when Harry took a hit. They were all more than aware that without his wand, Harry was still mostly human. His body was just as fragile as a human's. Any of Gin's hits could potentially snap Harry's neck.

Moka wanted to cover her eyes when she saw Gin throw Harry across the roof. His claws dug into Harry's back, leaving large, bloody scratch marks on Harry's skin. Harry sent a blasting hex in his direction, but he was gone before it could land.

Kurumu had tried to fly in and help Harry, but there was a barrier around the roof that threw her back towards the stairwell. Harry had put up a ward so that none of them would get hurt. Moka's blood froze in her veins when she realized that Harry was truly intent on facing Gin by himself.

_This is all my fault, _Moka thought. _If I'd just let Harry explain himself in the first place, we wouldn't be in this mess to begin with._

Harry watched his surroundings warily. The wounds on his back stung worse than Vernon's belt. He'd cast a quick healing spell on them, but he had yet to learn anything more effective than a simple _episky_.

A devious chuckle echoed around the roof. "Tired already, Harry-_kun_? You were a fool to think you could face off against a werewolf."

With a victorious howl, Gin launched himself at Harry, intent on finishing him off in one move. Harry had been a worthy opponent, far more capable than he'd expected of a wizard, but he would not be defeated today. Gin extended his claws towards the undefended neck of Harry, expecting to feel the smooth slice of flesh around his claws, but instead, he felt himself stop midair.

_What?_

Harry held his wand before him. A smirk spread across his face like butter. "Gotcha."

"How…" Gin looked up to see a cloudy sky and... no moon!

"Simple. I've been spelling clouds into the sky since our fight began, Gin-_senpai_. You were so focused on evading my hexes that you didn't bother to look up."

Harry dissipated the barrier around the roof. The girls ran to surround Harry, concerned eyes watching his every move. Harry managed to keep himself from hunching over due to his wounds. He allowed the girls to latch onto him while he turned to face Gin.

The wolf remained suspended in mid-air. His claws were still stretched towards Harry's neck, and Harry approached him with a daring smirk. He walked towards Gin until his neck was directly under Gin's claws.

"You aren't a threat to me, Gin. As a matter of fact, if I wanted, you wouldn't be a threat to anyone, ever again. I could remove those teeth and claws if I wanted, Gin. Do you know why I don't?"

Sweat formed on Gin's brow. Even in wolf form, his fear was palpable. "W-why?"

"Because I won't sink to your level, Gin. And because we'll be needing a club president."

Gin's eyes widened at the implication. "You're all staying in Newspaper Club? And you're still gonna let me be president after all this?"

Harry glared at the wolf. "Don't think that you're going to get off scot-free. There are going to be quite a few repercussions for what happened today."

Harry smirked. Gin had transformed back into human form in shock. He hadn't expected anything but death for what he'd done. For monsters, trying to steal someone else's girl was a death sentence. Gin glanced back and forth from Yukari to Kurumu to Moka to Harry. The girls all watched Harry carefully, clearly wondering the same things as Gin.

When nothing was said for a while, it was Yukari who decided to speak up. "Sooo, you're gonna leave him alive?"

Everyone else looked to Harry for his answer. Moka had a strange, knowing look in her eye while the others seemed confused.

"Yup. What, you thought I was just going to kill him for something he didn't even manage to do?"

It was Harry's turn to look confused. Moka, finally, decided to speak up. "You guys are forgetting something very important."

All eyes turned to Moka.

"Harry-kun is an English wizard. They don't adhere to monster customs."

Harry looked around at the understanding looks on everyone's faces. "Will _someone _please explain what I'm missing here?"

Kurumu turned away from Gin to answer Harry's question.

"Well, Harry-kun. With monsters, behavior like Gin's usually ends in death. Monsters will kill if someone tries to steal their mates. Gin just attempted to steal Moka from you, and now that you've won, it's expected that you kill him. If you don't people will think you're weak."

Harry frowned. "That's rather archaic, don't you think? I've already beaten his arse, shouldn't that be enough? And what about Saizou? I let him be, yet Moka wasn't even a little bit surprised when I didn't kill him after finding my wand."

Moka smiled softly at him, making his heart speed up just a bit. "I knew you wouldn't kill him even then because you're the sweetest person I've ever met, Harry-kun. I'd only just met you then, but I was completely certain that you'd choose mercy over violence."

Harry's growing smile was slightly forced after that declaration. He remembered their little fight with the Lizardmen. He remembered that tiny whisper in the breeze that had called for blood and revenge. He remembered answering that call without hesitation. Instead of joy at Moka's conviction, Harry felt ashamed. He knew that he wasn't the person that she thought he was.

_But, _Harry thought, _there's a way I can become the person she thinks I am._

Harry returned his gaze to the werewolf caught in his spell. He released the teen in his grasp, the clouds above ensuring that he would be no threat to them anytime soon.

"For your punishment, you'll publicly announce that you were the peeping tom, then you'll personally apologize to _every _girl you've peeped on. Have fun, Gin. Make sure we never have to do this again, alright?" Harry said, his last words holding a blatant threat.

The wolf nodded quickly before sprinting to the staircase leading off the roof. Harry smirked as the dust settled. Despite his injuries, tonight had been rather fun. Maybe he'd spar with the wolf again one day.

Soon after Gin's departure, Harry found himself with an armful of girls. All of them clamored over each other to get to him, leaving Harry at the bottom of a dog pile. His wounds ached and breathing was difficult, but Harry didn't protest the rough treatment. Why would he, when all of his girls were right where they should be, held close and safe around him? Harry let out a sigh of relief as the girls continued to chatter and argue around him.

_Yes, this is how it should be. _


	7. Werewolf and a Vampire part 2

The morning after Harry's altercation with Gin, he sat in his dorm room reading a large tome. The bandages on his torso felt completely unnatural after years of Madam Pomfrey's healing hands, or more accurately, her spells and potions. As Harry slaved over the texts, he found himself gaining a lot more appreciation for the skilled healer. The healing spells Harry was studying were putting him through the wringer, and his distracting injuries were no help to the learning process at all.

Once again, Harry gathered his concentration and spoke the incantation, _medeorum_, to the empty room. Like all the times before, the tip of his wand lit up with a soothing yellow light. The young wizard poured more of his magic into the spell, making the light expand slightly. Harry's heart fluttered anxiously as the light dimmed a bit when he moved his wand. Luckily, the light didn't flicker out.

Unlike his previous attempts, the light seemed to be holding its form well in its expanded state. The past few times he'd tried to perform this spell, the light had completely destabilized right after he added any more of his magic. With the utmost caution, Harry directed the yellow light inwards.

Harry watched with bated breath as the light flowed up his arm, through his veins, and out of his view. Harry couldn't see the light anymore, but he could feel the magic cover his wounds. He could feel the sting of his skin tugging itself together as the spell burned out any bacteria in the area. As the last of the skin knitted itself together, Harry released a relieved sigh. Without a moment of hesitation, Harry sliced through the restricting bandages with a well-aimed diffindo.

As if sensing his newly bared skin, a blue-haired figure burst into Harry's room. Kurumu paused in the doorway, and a lecherous smirk spread across her face. She stalked forward, looking like a lioness about to pounce. Unfortunately for the young Succubus, she hadn't come alone, and her advance was halted by a golden washing pan. The young witch behind the attack stepped into view with a smug grin, and a pink-haired vampire following after her. Harry stumbled over his bed to grab a shirt from his drawer as his friends all invited themselves into his room.

"S-sorry about the intrusion, Harry-kun. We were all just wondering if you were coming to lunch today, since you told us you'd be busy at breakfast," Moka explained, looking away with a blush.

"Maybe knock next time?" Harry said as he tugged the shirt over his head.

"Not sorry," Kurumu muttered. "Very much worth the pan to the head."

Yukari giggled as Kurumu threw the pan aside to reveal a large bump.

Harry shook his head in fond exasperation before following the girls out of his room and towards the lunchroom.

"So, I guess you found a way to heal up those scratches, huh?" Yukari began.

"Oh yeah. I didn't see them when you went to get your shirt earlier," Moka added.

"Yeah. No easy feat, believe me. Took me _hours_," Harry groaned.

"So you were sitting in your room, shirtless, for hours, and I wasn't invited?" Kurumu raged petulantly.

Harry chuckled. "Next time I'm wounded in a potentially fatal battle, I'll be sure to invite you for the after-party," Harry teased.

As the group approached the cafeteria, they were greeted by the sight of Gin bowing before a group of girls. He spoke a few words, and their confused expressions turned murderous in seconds as they proceeded to slap the werewolf one-by-one, leaving bright red palm prints on his cheeks.

"Seems that Gin-senpai took your words seriously, Harry-kun," Moka said.

Yukari laughed at the wolf's expense. "Good for him. He's getting what's coming to him."

"Yeah, that creep deserves every beating he gets," Kurumu sneered.

Harry shook his head at the sight. His inner Gryffindor was cloying at him to go help the werewolf for reasons that he couldn't conceive of. Gin had been his opponent just last night. He'd attempted to steal Moka from him, and he'd even tried to _kill _him.

_So why do I care what happens to the mongrel? I should be enjoying watching him get what's been coming to him. _

Harry shook his head in dismissal before entering the lunchroom with his friends. He put his traitorous thoughts out of his mind for the rest of lunch, enjoying the bickering and soft conversation of his friends. Things were going well enough that Harry almost managed to forget all about Gin. Then, of course, the troublesome werewolf had to go and get into trouble again.

While eating his lunch alone, Gin had been approached by one of his victims and her boyfriend. As the girl loudly proclaimed, she'd heard that Gin was the peeping tom, and she'd brought her boyfriend to kick his ass for her. The boy, looking much more like a pro sumo wrestler than a highschool student, bodyslammed the wolf, sending him directly over Harry's table and through the doors of the cafeteria.

Harry and the girls watched their Cub President get beaten so easily with mixed reactions. Yukari and Kurumu, being the more vindictive of the group, smirked at the sight before returning to their meal. Moka sent the werewolf a concerned glance. She clearly wasn't overjoyed at the sight of the beaten werewolf.

Harry's worries were a bit more varied. Of course, he was concerned about the number of bruises he'd seen on the werewolf, but he didn't know why he felt so angry all of the sudden. It wasn't like he and Gin were friends. They were barely even not-enemies, but Harry found himself glaring at the girl and her boyfriend. Whether it was Gryffindor chivalry or something else, Harry didn't know, but he forced himself to ignore the spectacle entirely.

* * *

After lunch, Harry decided to give his studies a break and enjoy the last day of the weekend with his friends. The group sat in the courtyard, cheerfully enjoying each others' company. Moka sat next to Harry, almost attached to his arm as she got her fix of wizard blood. Kurumu sat on his other side, lodging Harry's arm between her breasts in her attempts to turn Harry's attention towards her.

The blush on Harry's face had been steadily spreading for the better part of an hour, and he looked like he might pass out. Completely oblivious to this, Moka and Kurumu continued to not-so-subtly have a Harry tug of war as they conversed.

"Harry-kun, do you think you could teach me that healing spell now that you know how to do it?" Yukari asked eagerly.

"I can barely do it myself, Yukari. Besides, you're our resident genius. I'm sure if you'd like to borrow the tome, you could learn it on your own."

"It's not as fun learning it on my own," Yukari said with a pout.

"I'm sure Harry-kun will teach you as soon as he's had time to practice, Yukari-chan."

"'Course he will. Harry-kun might not see it, but I know you're just trying to get more alone time with him~"

"Shut up, cow!"

"You're just jealous because you're too young for Harry-kun!"

"Nuh-uh!"

"Yuh-huh!"

"Nuh-uh!"

The two continued their petty argument, and Harry and Moka watched from the sidelines. Moka had long since gotten her fill of blood, but she hadn't moved from her position pressed against Harry's side. Harry glanced at the pinkette. Her eyes were gleaming with amusement at the antics of their friends. It was rare for Harry to be able to see her so at peace with all the random scuffles they all seemed to fall into. She wasn't looking at Harry, so his adoring smile went unnoticed.

The other two finally calmed down and started gossiping about some new couple in their homeroom that Harry had absolutely failed to notice or care about. The two giggled mischeiviously as they discussed one tale or another that they'd heard from someone's friend's cousin. Harry huffed a laugh at the girl's quick shift in mood.

Kurumu's genuine laugh brought a smile to his face. It was rare to hear her laugh without a hint of gloating or teasing. Seeing her get along with Yukari, even for a short while, brought up his spirits. Of course, that didn't last long. Kurumu went back to teasing Yukari soon enough, and the two began another playful round of bickering.

As he enjoyed the peaceful atmosphere, Harry began to doze off. Harry's eyes had just slipped shut when a stampede of footsteps and angry yells approached him. The sleepy wizard instinctively whipped out his wand and pulled Moka behind him. By the time he'd blinked the sleep from his eyes, the mob of rowdy students was almost in front of him. Out in front, running away from the mob, was Ginei Morioka. _Of-bloody-course._

Harry straightened up and began to walk away, but as the wolf passed him by, they made eye contact. Harry could see the guilt and fear in the bark-colored eyes and his heart seized. Gin's face was battered with bruises and cuts. The speed that he should naturally have was put off severely by the limp in his left leg. The crowd was on his heels. Gritting his teeth, Harry huffed a sigh of defeat and took off after him. Ignoring the calls of his friends, Harry ran side-by-side with Gin.

He looked shocked at Harry's appearance.

"Harry? What are you-"

"Don't. Ask. Hell if I even know. I'm getting you out of this. Come on."

Harry grabbed the wolf and took a sharp right into the forest. With all the fighting he'd done inside it, Harry probably knew this forest better than anyone. Even with the monsters' superior speed and senses, Harry managed to cleverly avoid them and keep Gin out of harm's way. The two hid behind a large boulder, and Harry cast a disillusionment charm. The mob passed right by them. As soon as they were clear, the two ran back to the boys' dorm and hid in Harry's room.

Harry collapsed onto his couch as he caught his breath. Gin stood awkwardly in the doorway. As a wolf, he was very cautious of being in another male's "territory." Harry didn't seem to notice as he grabbed a water bottle and tossed another to Gin. The silence in the room was deafening.

"I know you said not to ask, but… why-?"

Harry sighed. "I don't know, alright? You looked beaten to hell and there was a whole mob after you and you looked… scared. I couldn't just _let _them get to you."

"Why not?"

Harry looked at the wolf in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"I mean why couldn't you let them get me? Anyone else would've. I tried to kill you _last night_, Harry. Do you have some kind of death wish bringing me back to your room alone? Why wouldn't you just let them kill me? Why wouldn't _you _just kill me?"

"Now who has a death wish?"

The wolf was undeterred. "Harry-"

"I didn't want to, okay? Regardless of how much of an arse you've been, I enjoyed our little competition."

Gin looked surprised.

"Every other time I've had to fight someone in this school, which is by the way _too many times_, they would just up and try to bash my face in. It was _fun _to fight you, even when it got serious. I know Moka went on about how good of a person I am, but it's _bullshit_, okay? Last time someone tried to hurt one of them, I _wanted _to kill them! Something inside of me was telling me to spill blood, and when I did, I _enjoyed it. _I don't want to be that person, Gin! I can't." Harry's voice hitched at the end.

By the time he was done, Harry's eyes were stinging with shameful tears. Gin respectfully looked away as Harry wiped at them. The wolf stared at Harry from his place at the door, seemingly debating with himself before he slowly approached the couch. Harry watched the wolf's movements closely but made no move to stop him. Gin sat beside the wizard and placed a hesitant hand on his shoulder.

"Look, if it means anything at all, what you did earlier was probably the nicest thing anyone's ever done for me. Anyone who's known you for more than two minutes can tell you're a good person, Harry. Hell, I could tell from the second I met you. Whether you wanted to kill somebody or not doesn't matter to me, and I'm sure it won't matter to your girls either. Besides, this is a school for _monsters_, man. A little blood lust is expected for us. Nobody here is judging you for that. And… even though I lost, our little game was probably the most fun I've ever had."

Gin smiled amiably at the puffy-eyed wizard. Harry gave him a small smile in response.

"Thanks, Gin."

"No problem."

As Gin got up to leave, the door to Harry's room was thrown open, and three very worried monstresses came charging in.

"Harry, watch out!"

"You won't hurt my Harry-kun, Mutt!"

"Flipendo!"

The startled werewolf was knocked over Harry's couch and out of his window. Luckily, Harry's room was only on the second floor. Hopefully, the monster's naturally tougher body would be fine after the fall. The girls all piled on top of Harry, carefully checking for injury.

"Kurumu, why would you need to check _there_?"

"Had to be sure!"

Harry managed to calm the girls out of their frenzy after awhile. He hazarded a glance out of his shattered window to see that the wolf had fled.

_At least he's not too hurt, I guess. _

Harry returned his attention to his chattering friends. "Guys, I'm really fine. Promise."

"Why was _Gin _here?" Kurumu asked, spitting Gin's name like a curse.

_Oh, she's not gonna like this. _"Well, we're friends now."

There was a pregnant pause. Everyone stared at Harry like he'd grown another head. Then there was a roar of objections.

"Are you _crazy_?"

"He's awful!"

"What?!"

The trio clamored over each other trying to figure out why Harry would befriend the perverted werewolf. Harry tried in vain to speak, but the three wouldn't allow it.

"Girls… I-... would you… Girls! GIRLS!"

All of them silenced themselves, shocked that Harry had raised his voice.

"Sorry, but it's been a long day, and I know what happened, alright? I still have the scars to prove it. I know this is sudden, but Gin's been trying to make up for what happened, and we have an understanding. Can you please just… accept my judgment on this one?"

Harry looked at the trio pleadingly. He didn't really have the energy to argue anything after the day he'd had. Moka, Kurumu, and Yukari reluctantly agreed, seeing how worn out their friend was.

"Harry-kun… are you alright?" Moka asked.

Harry remembered the conversation he'd had with Gin, what he'd finally admitted out loud. "I- I think I will be, Moka," he replied with a tired smile.

Despite their concern, the girls restrained their curiosity… for now.

* * *

The next morning Moka, Kurumu, and Yukari were approached by a shame-faced werewolf.

"Hello, ladies." The greeting lacked Gin's trademark flirty tone and grin.

"What is it, Gin?" Yukari demanded.

Gin winced at the frosty reception. "I came because there are still a few people I've yet to apologize to." Gin turned to Kurumu and Moka and kneeled with his forehead pressed to the dirt. "Moka, Kurumu. I'm very sorry for my behavior. If there is anything I can do to make up for it, I will do it without complaint."

The two girls observed the apology in shock. This was a Gin that they had never seen before. Moka and Kurumu shared a lingering look before nodding sharply.

"We accept your apology, Gin-senpai," Moka said.

"But if you go back to your old ways or hurt Harry-kun, we'll kill you," Kurumu said.

Yukari nodded in agreement.

All three held fire in their eyes and a promise of pain for the fool who dared cross them.

Gin smiled, hope shining through. "I accept."

The four monsters were soon joined by a well-rested wizard. He took one look between Gin and the three girls and grinned proudly.

"Glad to see you getting along."

No more was said of the promise, but Gin knew that they had meant every word of it. Luckily for him, he had no intention of hurting the new object of his affections.

* * *

_**A/N: Hey guys. I want to clear a few things up. Number one: As you can probably already tell, this a slow-burn fic. The romance is coming guys. Number two: The wizarding world may seem distant now, but it will still play a big part in the story. Number three: From here on, cannon is going to start getting heavily subverted. **_


	8. The Truth and a Vampire

The weeks after the incident with Gin had been peaceful. Unfortunately for Harry, pure exhaustion from pointless fights seemed to be the only way he slept nowadays. With all the extra energy he had, Harry couldn't seem to stay asleep. So, with all the extra time, he had been able to dig into his tomes with renewed vigor. If there was one thing that Hogwarts had taught him, it was that peace times were practice times. No one likes performing a spell for the first time when they're fighting for their life.

Harry sat in his room late at night with only his bedside lamp to light the pages filled with old magic. The words seemed to reach out to Harry, black ink leaping off the page to curl around his mind and hands. Harry smiled to himself at the feeling. He wondered for the briefest of moments if this was why Hermione always studied so much.

The brainy witch had always amazed Harry with how long she could keep her head tucked away in a textbook. If she could see him now, she'd grin wider than the Great Hall. Harry chuckled. If _Ron_ ever saw him reading a book for so long, he'd probably check to see that he hadn't been brainwashed.

Harry smiled sadly at the thought of his friends. He wished he could speak to them. If this school had a floo, he wouldn't have to worry about the safety risks of an owl. Harry turned the page with a melancholy sigh. If he could talk to his friends, he might actually be able to sleep at night instead of flipping through spellbooks. The page Harry had turned to was blank. Harry frowned, thinking he was at the end of the book. Before he could turn again, ink began to appear along the top of the page.

Harry threw the book away from himself. It landed perfectly on the same blank page. His heart pounded just a bit faster in his chest at the sight. In his experience, nothing good came of sentient books. Harry whipped out his wand, the word, _incendio_, on the tip of his tongue.

Before he could burn the book, the words "Floo Powder" seeped up from the paper. Harry gasped. The book had read his mind! He didn't want to risk another Chamber of Secrets incident, but if he was right about his suspicions… any risk was worth it. Harry carefully placed the book back onto the bed and waited.

Below the title, the words "instructions" and "ingredients" formed. Harry couldn't believe his luck! This book was like the Room of Requirements in written form! Still cautious, Harry waited with his wand at the ready for the book to finish the page. If this book wasn't cursed, it was a stroke of luck he'd never expected. With this, Harry could finally speak to his friends and the Order again!

When the page was complete, Harry read over it closely, his eyes devouring the page like a starving man. The primary ingredient, floo flower, was the only one he seemed to be missing. Harry launched himself off of his bed and dug through his trunk to find a book labeled "Magical Flaura of the Japanese Monster World." When Harry finally found the book he kissed the cover. He was so close to finally seeing his friends' faces again.

Harry searched the book on magical plants. He stopped on the section labeled "Teleportation." He hadn't known that there was more than one plant that allowed for teleportation. Curiosity got the better of him, and he flipped through the pages of the book.

The first plant was, of course, the floo plant. It was found in Northern regions, and it bloomed in the winter. The next plant was called a "hakkā plant." Its most popular usage was to bypass wards. Harry kept the name in mind. The next plant was called a "nogareru flower." Its ashes could be used to create an apparition cloud or "escape bomb."

Harry skimmed through the chapter quickly, taking a few mental notes as he read. When he was done, he returned to the floo page. If the plant was anywhere close by, he might be able to make the powder by tomorrow. There was just one little problem with finding the plant.

"Where the bloody hell is this school, anyway?"

Harry groaned. _Well, I didn't exactly expect this to be _easy, _did I?_

* * *

Harry shivered lightly in his thin school blazer. The sharp winter air cut through to his bones, and Harry wasn't exactly packing a lot of body fat to warm himself. The daily walk to the main school building was getting colder by the day, and he was going to have to start wearing more layers if he wanted to make it to the end of the year.

"Aww. Are you cold, Harry-kun~?" Kurumu teased. "Let me warm you up!"

Harry blushed as he tried to avoid another bone-crushing suffocation attempt from the succubus. "I think I'll be alright, thanks!"

Harry dodged out of Kurumu's way as she lunged at him. The lecherous youkai pouted when she found her arms empty. "You're no fun, Harry-kun."

As per usual, Moka leaned into Harry as they walked. "Can I have some blood, Harry-kun?"

"You're gonna suck me dry at this rate, Moka," Harry joked.

Gin barked out a laugh. "I knew you two were screwin behind our backs!"

"Gin!" the duo exclaimed with matching blushes.

"Why so shy, you two? Sheesh, you act like a couple of virgins," Gin laughed.

Harry sent a stinging hex at the wolf's arm and walked a bit faster as he tried to calm his flaming face.

"Wait, are you?!" the werewolf exclaimed, clearly amused at his embarrassment.

"Please stop saying things like that," Moka squeaked.

"Can't hear it. Nope. Can't hear a thing. None of this conversation is happening," Harry muttered.

A sudden gust of warm air on Harry's ear made him jump and whirl around. A too-pleased werewolf stood behind Harry with a cocky smirk. "Sorry, but you're not allowed to check out of the conversation, Harry-kun~. Besides, you never answered my question," Gin teased.

Harry blushed and turned back around. "Hey, would you look at that, a school building! This conversation can end now. We all have a club to get to, don't we? Good old club room, can't wait to go. I'm sure Ms. Nekonome has missed us so much since yesterday. We should go see her."

Harry speed-walked into the building in an effort to avoid further embarrassment, but no such luck. Kurumu and Yukari had decided to join in on the teasing, and by the time they were in the club room, Harry's face strongly resembled a Weasley's hair. Luckily, they let the issue drop when they got inside.

As soon as everyone was settled, Gin walked up to the front of the room with his game face on. He pulled a stack of pictures out of his pocket and hooked them up on the chalkboard for everyone to see. All of them were ordinary photos of girls at their school.

"Alright, guys, we've got a big story this week. 8 missing girls. One after the other. Today marks the eighth girl in a month. Now, it's not exactly weird for people to go missing in this school, but these numbers are high even for Youkai Academy. I've collected some information on each of the girls, but Yukari and Kurumu, I'd like you to look into them with fresh eyes. You two are, after all, our resident kid genius and detective." Gin smirked, clearly remembering Kurumu's Sherlock stint well.

"Moka-"

"Um, I'd love to help, Gin-senpai, but I promised Ishigami-sensei I'd model for her this week. Please call me if you need extra hands, but I'm afraid I'll be too busy to be much help," Moka interrupted guiltily.

"Alright then, Harry. I guess it'll just be you and me chasing down leads today." Gin smirked, and a not-so-innocent look formed on his face.

Harry blushed and looked to Moka pleadingly.

Moka shrugged and shook her head. "Sorry, Harry-kun. I promised." The vampire reluctantly picked up her bag and walked out of the room.

_Damn, now I'm stuck with him for the rest of the week._

"Moka, come back, save me please!" Harry cried.

"Aww, cheer up, Harry-kun. Gin-senpai'll take care of ya~"

"Stay back, you fiend!"

"Come on, Harry-kun, time to start looking for a lead!"

Gin pulled the struggling wizard along behind him as he left the room. Of course, he(and everyone else) knew that Harry wouldn't have allowed Gin to drag him along if he was actually opposed to it. But it was still funny to see him flailing around like a drowning fish in his mock attempts for freedom. With how exhausted the wizard was looking recently, it was nice to see him acting so lively.

* * *

Gin and Harry spent the better part of the afternoon talking to the friends of the missing girls. They were asking about any odd behavior or strange new friends. None of them had anything to report, unfortunately. They had been at it for hours with no results, and Harry was starting to get hungry.

"You wanna take a break for lunch?"

Harry raised a brow at the question. "What are you, a mind reader?"

Gin shook his head. "Nope. Super sharp ears. I can hear your stomach rumbling before you can."

"Really, now? That must suck."

"Why do you say that?"

"BECAUSE YOU HANG OUT WITH REALLY LOUD PEOPLE!"

Gin winced and clamped his hands over his ears. Harry laughed at the werewolf's expense. While he laughed, Gin stuck a foot out in front of him. Harry jumped over the offending limb and smirked playfully.

"Sorry, my furry friend. Seeker reflexes."

"What's a seeker?"

"My quidditch position. Do you not play quidditch in Japan?"

"What is that, a sport? You never struck me as an athlete."

"Hey, I'm fit," Harry whined in mock offense. "Besides, what sport do you play, fetch?"  
Gin pouted. "Oh, that's just hurtful."

"Yeah, it's a sport. You play on broomsticks."

"How's that work?"

"Ok, so there are seven players on each team, right? Then there's the snitch, the quaffle, and the bludgers. The seeker-"

A shrill scream pierced the air. It was coming from the main building. A look of understanding passed between Harry and Gin. The boys sprinted for the building. Gin leaped from window sill to window sill, quickly ascending the building. Harry muttered an "ascendio" to reach the third-floor window the werewolf left open for him. The wizard clumsily shot through the window and into the room.

Inside was the art teacher, Ms. Ishigami, and Moka. Ishigami's trademark bandana was removed to reveal at least a dozen snakes, each with their fangs buried into a different part of Moka's body. Both looked confused, but Ishigami was furious. "Why aren't you turning into stone?! I've pumped you with enough venom to put down a giant!"

Two of the snakes let go of Moka without warning and plunged their fangs into Harry and Gin. Gin panicked as the bite on his leg quickly rendered the limb useless. Harry and Moka were both puzzled to see that nothing was happening to them.

"So, it's both of you?! This is unacceptable. You both need to die!"

"Diffindo!"

The spell cut clean through Ishigami's hair-snakes, sending blood everywhere. Ishigami cried out in agony as the snakes fell to the ground, dead.

"MY HAIR! NO, NOT MY HAIR!"

Harry paid little mind to the disarmed(dishaired?) teacher and ran to his friend, who looked like she was about to tip over. Harry caught Moka just before her legs gave out. Gin growled angrily and transformed. The stone that covered the lower half of his body shed off like scales. The pissed off werewolf lunged at the teacher.

"Moka, are you alright? What happened?"

"Harry, I'm so glad you're here! I came here to model for Ishigami-sensei, but while she was painting me, she ran out of paint. A-and while she was gone, I looked in her cabinet for the extra paint, and I found this creepy looking statue. It looked just like one of the kidnapped girls, and she was crying! So, I tried to sneak out, but Ishigami-sensei caught me. She sent all her snakes after me, and I thought I was a goner. I just don't get it. I should've been solid stone with all her snakes biting me at the same time… and so should you."

"I don't know what just happened, and I don't know why we're both not stone. What I _do _know is that your teacher tried to turn you into a living statue for her own amusement, and I can't let that slide."

Harry let Moka stand on her own, and turned to see a still- transformed Gin hovering over a beaten Ishigami. The werewolf felt the weight of Harry's stare and slowly backed away from his prey. Harry's mouth set in a firm line, and his eyes locked onto his target.

He heard the whispers beckoning him forward. The soft calls for revenge were so much louder after he acknowledged them to Gin. He could hear them clearly, but he would not be overcome. He knew better now. Whatever they were, wherever they came from, Harry wanted nothing to do with them.

Harry stopped inches from Ishigami. The medusa shrank away from the enraged wizard. She was vulnerable, and she knew it. A vulnerable monster was a dead monster. She would accept her death with grace. She wouldn't fight.

"Open your eyes, Ishigami. I'm not going to kill you. Heaven knows you deserve it, but I'm not. You won't die today, but I won't allow you to hurt anyone ever again. _Viperafors_."

Ishigami gasped as her body began to shrink, and her legs disappeared. In seconds, the art teacher was a small, brown snake. Harry levitated her out of the window and tossed her out into the forest.

"Good riddance," Harry spat. "Wish I could've done the same to a few of my Defense teachers… and Snape."

The wizard turned to find both of his friends staring at him in awe.

"What? It's not like she's going to tell anyone."

Gin laughed and shook his head. Moka beamed at the confused wizard and leaped into his arms. Harry wheezed as the vampiress choked the life out of him in gratitude.

"Moka… can't breathe… stop."

"Oh! Sorry, Harry-kun!"

Harry gasped for air as she released him. Moka blushed lightly, embarrassed for her lapse in control.

"What was that all about?"

"Oh, don't worry about it, Harry-kun. Thank you."

"Hey, I helped him," Gin protested lightly.

Moka gave the wolf an exasperated look, but he didn't seem to mind. If Harry was being honest with himself, it was good to see the cocky grin back on his face instead of the beaten grimace it'd been a few weeks back. Moka seemed back to normal, too if her sniffing at his neck again was any indication.

"Harry-kun, can I have a little sip, please? You smell so yummy."

Harry sighed. "Go ahead."

Moka giggled happily. "Capu-chu~"

Harry blushed. Some things never changed.

* * *

"So you guys weren't even a little stiff after she bit you?" Yukari asked, eyes sparkling in amazement.

"Nope, not even a little. It was so weird," Moka commented.

"That's my Harry-kun! Nothing stops him, not even a medusa!" Kurumu cheered.

"But _why_ is the question," Yukari insisted. "Medusas are super powerful, and one as old as Ishigami-sensei should've had them both paralyzed within seconds. The only monster better at paralyzing their prey are basilisks. If she-"

"Wait did you say basilisk?" Harry interrupted.

"Yeah?"

"Maybe it's something like immunization. You know, like the flu? I got bitten by one paralyzing monster, and the others don't work anymore?"

Silence followed. Everyone stared at Harry like he'd grown another head. Then, there was chaos.

"You were bitten by a WHAT?"

"HUH?!"

"How are you not _dead_?"

The group continued yelling over each other in a frenzy. Harry couldn't discern one voice from another. He could barely hear his own thoughts with the ruckus they were making.

"One at a time, guys… Come on, guys. Calm down."

Harry sighed, and cast a sonorous charm. The loud noise made everyone immediately clutch at their ears and quiet down. Harry canceled the charm a second later.

"Could you all speak one at a time, please?"

"How are you still alive?" Gin demanded.

"Phoenix tears," Harry answered simply.

This caused a whole other cacophony, but Harry held up his wand in warning. The group quickly quieted down again.

"How the _hell _did you get phoenix tears?" Kurumu exclaimed.

"My headmaster had one."

"Ok, we'll just leave _that _for another conversation. How did you end up running into a _basilisk_? Those things are so rare it's ridiculous," Yukari said.

"Well, obviously our Harry here's a trouble magnet," Gin answered.

"That's a bit of a long story. Erm, long story short, a dark wizard that really wants me dead possessed my friend's sister and opened a centuries-old chamber to make the basilisk in it that his great-great-grandfather or something hatched beneath the school kill muggleborns."

"Ok, but how did _you _manage to run into it?" Gin asked.

"And what do you mean _wants _you dead? He's still trying to kill you?" Moka asked.

The group stared holes in Harry's head at that question.

"Harry, why are we only hearing about all this right now? Have you been hiding this from us this whole time?" Kurumu asked, her voice strained by hurt.

"I-" Harry's throat tightened. He had hoped he could keep them out of this. Keep them safe. If he told them about what was happening in England, they would try to help him. They'd put themselves in danger, and it would be his fault.

"Harry, please talk to us. Whatever it is, we can help you. Just please tell us what's wrong," Moka spoke softly.

"NO!"

The others jumped at Harry's voice.

"No, you can't. I don't want your help, so please stay out of it," Harry begged. "I won't let all of you put yourself in danger for my sake. It's bad enough that I'm known to care about you in the first place. If he ever found out about you, you'd be in terrible danger. It's best if you just let me handle it, alright? This doesn't concern any of you-"

A sharp sound echoed throughout the room. Harry raised a hand to his stinging cheek and looked up at Moka in confusion. The vampire had streams of tears dripping from her eyes, but they were sharp nonetheless.

"Shut up."

Harry's mouth snapped shut. He didn't move, didn't breathe.

"You shut your mouth, Potter Harry. If you think we're just going to stand by while you put yourself in danger going up against some evil wizard that can control a _basilisk_ then you've either lost your _goddamn_ mind or you don't know us at all! Now we're all going to sit here, and you're going to tell us what's going on. Right. Now."

Moka took a deep breath, wiped the tears from her eyes, glared at Harry one last time, and planted herself in the seat across from him once again. Harry saw that Moka wouldn't let him slide on this, so he prepared himself for the long, difficult conversation to come. If they wanted to be involved, they'd have to know what they were up against.

"I guess I'll start with the day all of this began, Halloween, 1981..."


	9. Yuki-Onna and a Vampire

The Newspaper Club stood in front of the school passing out their latest issue. The front-page story was "Art Teacher Petrifies Students and Vanishes In the Dead of Night." The student body was buzzing about the story all morning. By the time the club members had to leave for homeroom, there was only one copy left.

"Ya-hoo hoo! This is the best turn out we've had since our first paper on Gin-senpai!" Kurumu cheered.

"Alright, can we forget about that already?" Gin growled.

"Nuh-uh. You're still a perv even if you aren't peeping anymore! Don't think I haven't caught you looking at a certain _someone._" Kurumu smirked and looked pointedly at Harry(who failed to take note of the conversation).

Gin sputtered, briefly losing his cool composure.

"We're really on a roll, you guys! We should have a party to celebrate our hard work paying off!" Moka cut in.

Kurumu's eyes lit up. "Yeah! I can make Harry-kun my special cookies... and I guess I'll bring some plates for the rest of you."

"Oh, come on. You can't _just _make sweets for Harry-kun. I want in on those cookies!" Yukari whined.

"Not a chance, Pancake."

Harry smiled, ignoring his friends' bickering as he sat down to read over the work he'd done with them. It all looked really professional if he did say so himself. It was certainly better than the absolute drivel that the Daily Prophet published. Maybe if he didn't end up getting murdered by Voldemort, he'd look into a career in journalism.

"There any papers left?" a voice spoke from the tree line.

Harry looked up to see a girl with light purple hair and a lollipop in her mouth. She had an aloof expression, but for some reason, Harry thought she looked sad. He looked down at the paper in his hands and back up at her.

"Yeah. Lucky you, this is the last one. Enjoy."

The girl stepped into Harry's space. A soft smile cracked the stone face for a mere second before it was gone again. "Thank you. You must be Potter Harry. Your articles are my favorite… and you're even cuter than I imagined."

Before anyone could react, the girl turned and walked off.

"The hell? Why do the pretty ones always run to Harry?" The wolf's tone was playful, but he glared at the girl's retreating back, small traces of jealousy seeping through. He already had enough competition as it was.

"Who was that girl, anyway?" Kurumu snapped, crossing her arms.

"I don't know. She said she liked my articles, but I've never seen her in the line."

"Whoever she was, she's got no manners at all. She was practically sitting on you," Moka grumbled. Her cheeks were puffed angrily.

Yukari nodded in agreement, fuming at the thought of another girl trying to steal Harry's heart.

"Well, whatever her deal was, we're going to be late for class if we don't leave soon," Harry noted.

The group set about putting the stand away and getting their things together for class. By the time they were ready to leave, the strange girl was forgotten and the party became priority once again.

* * *

The day had continued as usual, save for an appearance by the strange girl- whose name was apparently Mizore Shirayuki- in homeroom.

As Harry walked to his next class, he noticed that the hallway was colder than usual. He pulled his blazer a bit tighter around him. He felt like he was being watched. Harry started to walk a bit faster, and whoever was following him sped up as well. Harry swung the next corner quickly, turned around and pulled out his wand.

A second later, Mizore Shirayuki turned the corner and peered up at Harry like a kid caught with her hand in the candy jar. Harry, seeing that she wasn't currently a threat, lowered his wand.

"Why are you stalking me?" Harry asked bluntly. He needed to get to his math class(which he was just barely passing) soon, and he really didn't want to be late again.

Mizore averted her eyes, a small blush on her cheeks. "I… I'm really not great with people. That's part of why I've been ditching most of the year. I've mostly been relying on Nekonome-sensei delivering me the newspaper to find out what's going on here. I always loved your articles, Harry-kun. You're always so humble and kind… I always felt like I knew you even if we've never met. So, I want you to be my first friend, Harry-kun."

Mizore's genuine expression made Harry's heart skip a beat. He could see that she was lonely, and he remembered a time when he was the same. Back at Privet Drive, he'd been all alone. He'd always hoped that someone would reach out to him. Maybe this was his chance to do the same for someone else.

"I'd be happy to, Mizore. Would you like to come to the Newspaper Club party with me? I'm sure you can make plenty of friends there if you'd like to join afterward."

Mizore seemed to debate with herself for a moment. Then, she looked up at Harry and a small, sweet smile spread across her face.

"I would love that."

* * *

After his math class, Harry left the classroom to find Mizore waiting patiently outside the door. Harry wanted to say something, but when he saw the joy in her eyes, he couldn't bring himself to object to her truancy. Instead, he offered the girl a smile and walked with her to the club room.

Harry walked through the door, was promptly attacked by one of Kurumu's "hugs" and had a plate of cookies shoved in his face. Mizore narrowed her eyes dangerously at the succubus. She raised her hand threateningly, and her hand turned into an ice spear.

"Woah!" Harry jumped in front of Kurumu quickly before this could escalate. "Hey, it's not that serious, Mizore. You can, uh, put that away. Kurumu just does that sometimes. I'm not getting hurt." _Too much_.

"But she was smothering you," Mizore argued, still not putting her hand down.

"Yeah. Funny little habit she's got, but it's alright, _I'm _alright, promise. Let's just put away the pointy ice, please?"

Mizore looked between Harry and Kurumu a few times before slowly dissolving the ice weapon. Harry turned back to his friends who were watching the scene. They were on edge and tensed to defend their friends if necessary.

"Hi, guys. As you may know, this is Mizore Shirayuki, and she's in most of our homeroom. She's also a possible new recruit. Please treat her well," Harry introduced awkwardly.

Moka was the first to greet her, though she looked a bit hesitant. "Um, hi, Shirayuki-san. It's nice to meet you. I look forward to getting to know you."

"Kurumu." The succubus didn't even look at Mizore as she tossed her introduction over her shoulder.

"Hello, my name's Ginei Morioka."

"I'm Yukari."

"Great! Now that everyone's been introduced, let's start the party," Harry said, ushering Mizore towards the snack table.

He sent a pleading look over his shoulder at his friends to play nice before rejoining Mizore on her quest for food. She stayed away from the heavier food, taking cubes of cheese and grapes before sitting quietly across from Harry.

Moka had some upbeat pop song playing on a radio by the window. Harry sat with Mizore while she ate, exchanging small conversation with the shy girl.

He watched as his friends danced around. Kurumu instructed the others in some of the newest human dance trends. Gin took to it relatively quickly, but Moka and Yukari stumbled over the foreign actions. They didn't seem to mind much. Moka laughed as she tripped over Yukari's cape in her attempt at muggle dance. Harry wanted to join in on the festivities.

Mizore stared at Harry's expressions as he watched his friends. His smile was so bright and relaxed. When he was with her, he was awkward and tense. She was going to lose him to them at this rate.

Mizore mentally berated herself. Why had she believed him when he'd promised her new friends in this Club. She should've just frozen him solid and brought him home to marry like a proper snow woman. That's all she should ever want, after all.

But…

Mizore gazed passively at the impromptu dancefloor where Harry's friends were gathered. They all looked so happy. She wanted that for herself.

After Mizore finished eating, Harry tried to coax her onto the dancefloor. The corners of her lips tightened as her eyes scanned the dancefloor apprehensively.

"Come on, Mizore, it'll be fun. You don't have to be good at it, just let loose a little."

Mizore still looked anxious, so Harry leaned in a bit and whispered, "I'll tell you a secret, I'm no good at this either."

Mizore stared at Harry doubtfully. She couldn't imagine Harry being bad at anything. He was, as the humans would say, her Prince Charming. But his smile was so kind, and he looked so hopeful. She couldn't turn him down. Mizore nodded.

Harry grinned and stepped out with her onto the floor. Harry swayed, definitely off-rhythm to the catchy tune. Mizore looked confused as she tried to imitate his movements.

"No no no. Don't follow me, it won't do you much good. Just close your eyes and move however you feel to the music."

Mizore raised a skeptical brow but followed his advice nonetheless. She closed her eyes and swayed gently, like a snowflake on its way to the ground.

Harry cheered her on and slowly led her closer to the rest of the club. The others continued dancing. Moka smiled encouragingly at their new recruit. Even Kurumu wouldn't sneer at the honest effort she was making, but she watched the girl closely, jealousy and apprehension in her gaze.

Harry joined in the circle, happy to dance around and hop from partner to partner as Mizore discovered the joy of dancing. He spun Moka around by her hand. Kurumu almost knocked him over with her enthusiastic hip bump. Gin, ever playful, dipped Harry, catching him just before he could hit his head on the floor. Yukari put both her feet on Harry's, giggling lightly as he stepped for both of them.

Harry circled his way back around to Mizore and took her hands in his. He pulled the girl- now far less tense- to the center and danced with her. Even though she'd only just learned, Mizore was a much more graceful dancer than he was. Luckily, he managed to avoid stepping on her toes.

The pop song tapered off and a ballroom dance started up. Everyone partnered up and toed around each other with the backs of their hands raised and pressed against each others'. After a few revolutions, they switched partners.

Mizore ended up with Moka, and Harry got Kurumu. Harry chuckled lightly at the other two pairings. Mizore was still shy with anyone who wasn't Harry, but she handled the new arrangement with grace. Yukari barely came up to Gin's waist, so Gin had to hunch over to dance with her.

"So, I noticed you aren't really keen on Mizore joining the club. Any reason in particular?" Harry asked calmly.

Kurumu frowned, caught. "She- I could tell from the moment she walked into the classroom. Mizore is a yuki-onna." Mistrust and worry flitted across her face as they spun around and she watched her dancing with Moka.

Harry raised a brow. "I'm not sure why that's cause for concern."

From the youkai lore he'd studied, Harry had also guessed what Mizore was from the way everything became cold in her presence. Yuki-onna were typically solitary creatures with little other desire than to find a husband and keep him trapped in their snowy homes. Mizore agreeing to join the Newspaper Club had cemented Harry's initial theory that she was different from what her species' legends portrayed.

Kurumu didn't seem to share his opinion. "Harry, my mom's been telling me about these yuki-onna since I was a baby. They're trouble. If a yuki-onna has taken interest in you, she'll freeze you solid and keep you to herself. She may not look it now, but she's dangerous."

"Oh, like if a succubus takes an interest in you, she'll turn you into a love slave?" Harry said, not convinced.

Kurumu recoiled as if struck. "That's different. You're my Destined One, Harry, you know I would never-"

"Then why is it a different story with Mizore? You should get to know her before you judge her good or bad." Kurumu looked like she wanted to protest again, but Harry stopped her. "Just remember that monsters aren't always the same as their textbook definitions. And if you forget again, look in the mirror."

That said, their last rotation ended, and Harry gave Kurumu's hand a soft, encouraging squeeze, before switching partners. Kurumu stared after him for a second more before reluctantly turning to the only person without a new partner- Mizore.

Mizore hesitated, having sensed Kurumu's earlier animosity towards her. Kurumu stared at Mizore, searching. Mizore avoided her eyes, afraid to find judgment in them when she was finally starting to feel accepted. It was fine. She knew that she wasn't very likable. Maybe Kurumu was right to view her with such contempt.

Mizore sighed and turned to sit out this round of the dance. A hand shot out and grasped her wrist firmly. Mizore turned, surprised. Kurumu looked her in the eyes, and Mizore found none of her earlier enmity.

"I'm… sorry." She said it like the words stung to say. The prideful succubus hung her head in shame. "I shouldn't have been so quick to judge. Welcome to the Newspaper Club, Shirayuki-san."

Kurumu raised her hand, the palm facing towards herself. Mizore stared at her for a second before giving the succubus a small smile. Kurumu looked at the softness in the girl's icy features, and she wondered how she could've thought her a threat. Mizore touched the back of her hand to Kurumu's, and they began to dance.

She smiled softly at Kurumu. "I accept. And… my friends can call me Mizore."

Kurumu's face lit up. "Then I'm happy to be your friend, Mizore."

* * *

Mizore quickly wove herself into their tight-knit group. Her little quirks were accepted by the others, and she soon made her intentions to win Harry's heart clear. Kurumu embraced their rivalry sportingly, treating her just as she did the others. They exchanged insults and sometimes came to blows, but there was never any real resentment between them.

Harry finally managed to get Mizore to go to her classes. She was pretty far behind, but Moka and Yukari were helping her study. Apparently, Ms. Nekonome had been giving her school work, so she was passing most of her classes. The only ones she had a failing grade in were math and P.E.

She was trying hard to improve her math grade, but the only way to pass P.E. was to go to the class, and for some reason, Mizore refused to go. Harry and Yukari tried to reassure her that it was okay if she wasn't good at physical things; they would be at the bottom of the class right along with her due to their human bodies.

Mizore wouldn't hear it. Whenever they tried to convince her to give it a shot, she became closed off and cold, not responding until they changed the subject. After a few tries, they stopped. If taking P.E. made Mizore's eyes turn to stone and her smile fade to a grim line, then the class just wasn't worth taking.

The Newspaper Club's newest issue was pretty standard stuff. There were a few fights between some of the upperclassmen. The Newspaper Club had been lucky enough not to be involved this time. Harry and Mizore were on an info run, looking for witnesses and the monsters involved.

Harry saw three boys approaching. "Hey, did you two happen to see the fights earlier this week?"

The boys were upperclassmen, tall and already growing facial hair. None of them looked interested in talking to Harry.

"You Shirayuki Mizore?" the one on the left growled. He was the taller of the two. He had red hair and a nose ring.

This guy appeared to be on a mission. Harry read the situation quickly. These three were looking for a fight. They were outnumbered, but three on two were beatable odds. Harry stepped in front of Mizore protectively.

"Who's asking?" Harry answered, reaching for his wand.

"We've been asked to pay you a visit," the second boy said.

The first boy acted quickly, dodging around Harry and going straight for Mizore. Harry turned to defend her, but the second boy tackled him from the side. Harry grunted as his head hit the ground, throwing him off long enough for the monster to transform. He was a troll. Harry smirked.

_This brings back memories. First year was a far simpler time, wasn't it?_

"Obtundo!"

The spell hit the monster in the stomach and knocked the air out of him, but he recovered quickly, as Harry had expected. The troll took a few steps toward Harry.

"Accio branch." Harry put a lot of magic into the spell, making the branch rocket towards him. The tree branch struck the troll on the back of his head on its way to Harry, knocking him out cold.

Harry whirled around, ready to take on the next opponent, but the other two were already frozen in large blocks of ice. Harry grinned at Mizore, and she blushed, proud of her victory.

Harry did not think it was endearing or cute in any way.

The two continued on their way, wondering what that had been about. As they turned the corner, they ran into the P.E. teacher, Mr. Kotsubo. Mizore tensed, sliding behind Harry as much as she could.

"Hey, you two. Haven't seen you in a while, Mizore-chan. You should come to class more often, I've missed you." Mr. Kotsubo's smile had a few too many teeth.

Something about Mr. Kotsubo was just _off_. It was like he was looking right through Harry to Mizore. Mizore hid further behind him.

"Yeah, nice seeing you Mr. Kotsubo. We've got somewhere to be," Harry said hurriedly. Harry reached behind him and grabbed Mizore's wrist, keeping her out of the man's sight as he walked away.

When they were out of Mr. Kotsubo's sight, Harry let go of Mizore's wrist only to notice that she was trembling.

"Mizore?" Harry eyed the snow woman, concerned. "What's wrong?"

Just like when Harry would ask about why she wouldn't take P.E., Mizore's eyes turned to spheres of ice.

Harry's eyes scrunched in thought as he started to put the pieces together. This reaction wasn't just general aversion. Something had to have happened. And with Mr. Kotsubo's weird behavior around Mizore…

Harry's brows pulled together as his suspicions formed. "What did he do to you?" Harry asked, struggling to keep the anger out of his voice.

Mizore's closed off eyes flashed briefly with terror.

Suddenly, Harry didn't need to know. Something stirred inside him, demanding bloody retribution. And looking at his friend, at the kind and shy Mizore so closed off and scared, Harry was obliged to answer.

First things first, though. Harry gently took Mizore's hand and led her back to the club room. The others were still working on their respective articles. Gin turned when he heard the door slide open.

"Hey, you two. That was really fast, we should really have you two scout more often." Gin looked between the two of them for a moment, taking in Mizore's closed off expression and Harry's furious expression. "What's wrong?"

Mizore slid onto a cushion in the corner of the room and hugged her arms tightly, not looking at anyone.

"There's a teacher on this campus who needs the _Ishigami treatment_," Harry hissed, eyes hard.

The others turned around at that, worry coloring their faces. For Harry to be this angry, something really bad must've happened. The only question needed in a situation like this was-

"Who?" Gin voiced the question in everyone's minds.

"Guys, trouble!"

The club members turned to the sound of Nekonome-sensei's voice. Her tail was thrashing anxiously behind her, and her ears were glued to her head.

"I just got a letter saying Kotsubo-sensei is trying to get Shirayuki-san and Harry-kun expelled! He says you two attacked a couple of his soccer club boys earlier today. We've been summoned to the Headmaster's office immediately!"

"What?! We can't let that happen!" Kurumu exclaimed.

Yukari grabbed her laptop and a copy of the school's handbook. "He's crazy if he thinks we're letting you two get expelled!"

The group rushed to the Headmaster's office to refute Kotsubo-sensei's allegations, leaving Mizore in the club room, alone.

* * *

Nekonome-sensei knocked on the Headmaster's door timidly, startling when the door swung open on its own. The group piled into the room, facing the Headmaster who sat in his desk with his fingers steepled under his chin.

Most of his face was hidden by his hood. Two chilling, glowing white eyes were all that could be seen. He wore a priest's garbs and a rosary. Those piercing eyes slid over the group and stopped on Harry.

"What brings all of you to my office?" he asked, seemingly amused.

"Uh… didn't you summon me here?" Nekonome-sensei asked.

"No. I suspect you've been misled."

_Why would someone want all of us to come to the Headmaster's office for no reason?_ Harry's eyes slid over the group, narrowing as he tried to puzzle out an explanation. _Well, not all of us, Mizore isn't here…_

"Mizore!" Harry yelled abruptly.

He turned and ran out of the Headmaster's office. The others were fast on his tail. Harry grabbed onto the door of the club room, nearly sliding by it in his haste.

Mizore wasn't there.

"Shit!" Harry slammed a fist into the wall next to him.

"Harry, what's going on?" Moka asked, her eyes tight with worry.

"That bastard, Kotsubo. He's done something to Mizore, and he's likely the one who took her. We need to find her now, or he might do something to her."

Harry sprinted out of the classroom after the short explanation. Gin followed after Harry, worried that his rage would lead him to get himself hurt.

They checked the faculty room and Kotsubo's office with no success. The soccer field was empty as well. Harry was ready to sprint off to the next location, but a hand on his shoulder stopped him. Harry shot Gin a questioning look, wanting to continue his search as soon as possible.

"I heard something," Gin explained, a pensive expression on his face. His head tilted, following the sound before snapping in the direction of the forest. Harry should've known.

Harry followed after Gin as he ran towards the sound that had captured his attention. He took them through the trees to a familiar scene. They were at the cliff near the bus stop.

Kotsubo was partially transformed into his true form, a kraken. His many arms grabbed onto Mizore, fondling her breasts and forcing her arms out of the way.

Mizore eyes were wide with fear, and tears leaked from the corners.

Harry's blood boiled. His vision went red, and his magic rushed through his veins, begging to be used. Harry was more than willing to oblige. Harry slid down the hill, wand already in hand.

"Bombarda!"

Kotsubo's tentacles writhed at the blow. He was forced to let go of Mizore. Gin dropped in to catch her before she could collapse.

Kotsubo snarled at Harry. "Little fucking cockblocker, I'll kill you!"

He swung one of his tentacles at Harry.

"Diffindo!" Harry yelled.

The spell sliced the tentacle neatly in half. The end of it fell to the floor, still thrashing about in phantom pain. Kotsubo attacked, feeling cornered with the sudden loss of a limb. He moved quickly, using his remaining limbs to propel him directly towards Harry.

One of the tentacles slammed into Harry's midsection, knocking the air from the wizard's lungs. Harry gasped, holding an arm over his injured stomach. Another tentacle was coming at him. He rolled out of the way.

"Expulso," Harry hissed instinctively.

The spell blasted through the incoming tentacle, sending splatters of blood everywhere. The part of Harry that balked at violence had checked out the moment he'd seen Mizore's terrified expression. All that remained was _wrath_. Something deep inside Harry stirred at the bloodshed, grinned big and gruesome, relished it. For the briefest moment, Harry's emerald eyes glowed, bright Avada Kedavra green and _furious_.

Harry's spells zipped about the area, sending blood and tentacles flying in their wake. Another tentacle dropped with a wet _thwack_ against the ground. Kotsubo swore loudly, trying to back away from Harry, fear creeping into his panicked eyes.

"C'mon kid, I wasn't gonna hurt her, just have a little fun! How can you even blame me? Have you _seen _her?" Kotsubo tried. His voice trembled.

"You weren't going to hurt her?!" Harry sent another spell at him, this one almost breaking his collarbone. "_Bullshit!_ Do you know how she looked any time we brought up anything even having to do with you?!" Another spell, dislocating his shoulder. "You were her worst nightmare, and then you had the balls to come back and try to harass her _again_?! REDUCTO!"

The spell flew out of Harry's mouth before he could think to reign it in. The most destructive spell that Harry knew ripped through the skin of Kotsubo's chest and threw him into the air. The three students watched as the force of the spell flung his battered body off the edge of the cliff.

Kotsubo's eyes met Harry's for a moment, filled with dread, before he fell out of sight.

Harry raced to the edge of the cliff, cursing at his lapse in control, and kneeled by the edge to see if Kotsubo managed to swim away. Harry squinted, searching for the teacher's white clothes in the red water. Along the base of the cliff, a layer of craggy rocks jutted out to meet the waves.

On one of them…

Harry scrambled away from the edge of the cliff with a loud gasp. "Oh Merlin, what have I done." His stomach turned as his mind tried to catch up with what his eyes had just seen.

Down at the base of the cliff, Kotsubo's body bobbed with the waves, never fully coming up off of the giant spike through his chest. He was, without a doubt, dead.

Harry shook his head in denial, visibly trembling. He hadn't meant to. The spell was strong, but it wouldn't have _killed him_. Probably maimed or seriously injured, but never… this. He wasn't supposed to _die._

Harry felt worse as a small, dark part of him cheered at the death of his adversary, proud of the slaughter. Harry shook his head wildly, as if he could shake the feeling away. He clutched at his head, digging his nails into his scalp. Why was he feeling like this? He'd just _killed someone_! What was _wrong _with him?

_Moka smiled sweetly at him. _

_"I knew you wouldn't kill him even then because you're the sweetest person I've ever met, Harry-kun"_

"_Something inside of me was telling me to spill blood, and when I did, I _enjoyed _it."_

"_I was completely certain that you'd choose mercy over violence."_

Harry's head shot up as a hand settled on his shoulder. Gin sighed deeply and gave Harry a small, nervous smile. Harry turned away from him.

"Harry."

He didn't deserve to have people like Gin around him.

"Harry."

He wouldn't be able to face any of them. They'd hate him.

"Harry, look at me."

He was a murderer.

"Harry, please?"

Murderer _murderer __**murderer MUR-**_

A hand grasped Harry's face and turned it until he was looking directly into reddish-brown eyes. Gin's brows were creased with worry. When he finally got Harry out of his head, he let go of him.

"Harry, I know you're beating yourself up over this, but please listen to me, alright? You are _not _a bad person for killing a bastard like Kotsubo."

Harry looked away from him, disbelieving.

"Hey, no look at me, Harry. He was trying to kill you. He was trying to _rape Mizore_. Remember that? Look at her, Harry."

Harry refused to look up from his hands, still trapped in the heart-sinking revolving door of _I killed him_, _part of me loved it, I'm a _murderer.

Gin grabbed Harry's face once again, forcing him to look at Mizore, who sat curled up near the edge of the cliff. She was still trembling, and a few tears still leaked from her eyes, but she looked so _relieved_. She looked like she'd just woken from a nightmare.

"Look at her and tell me you're sorry for putting that look on her face. Tell me you're sorry for killing the _fucker _who tried to hurt her."

Harry's eyes widened, his mind trying to process what was being said. He'd _killed _someone, and they still wanted him? Mizore was happy?

"You- you don't hate me?"

"Harry, this is the monster world. There is no black and white. We're all fifty shades of fucked up around here, and sometimes you gotta kill a man to stop him from raping your friend. That's just how it works. It's harsh, and it's scary, but there's good here. You bring out a lot of that good, Harry, so don't you dare think you're a bad person because of this."

"B-but before, Moka said- it's just that everyone has such high hopes for me to be this beacon of light or whatever, and I can't-" Harry hiccupped, tears pouring from his eyes. "I can't do it. I'm a murderer, and-" _And part of me _liked it.

Gin gave Harry a knowing look. He knew, better than most, of Harry's struggles with darkness. He opened his mouth but shut it back as a second hand came to rest on Harry's other shoulder, cold as ice. Mizore sat beside Harry, her hands still shaking, and her eyes still blurred with tears, but she was determined.

"Harry-kun, Ko-" Mizore's throat caught around the word, unable to say the man's name even after his death. "That man was the real reason I stayed out of school for so long. He was a piece of shit, and I'm relieved that he's gone. I don't care what anyone else says." Mizore finally met Harry's eyes, and they were hard as steel. "If they tell you're going to hell for this, I'll follow you through the gates, and so will the others."

"You bet your ass we will," a voice said from behind them.

Kurumu was the first to come out of the forest, followed by Moka and Yukari.

Moka gave Harry a soft, understanding smile. "We saw… the result of the fight when Kurumu was flying us over." She knelt by Harry, brushing a thumb across his cheek affectionately. "I'm sorry if I made you think we wouldn't accept you, Harry-kun. I guess I should've been more clear that day. Back then, I knew that you wouldn't kill Gin because you knew it wasn't necessary. I trust you to know when it is. We'll support you no matter what." Moka's voice was steady and reassuring.

"That's right, desu! Harry-kun is my hero!"

Harry smiled cautiously, his heart feeling lighter with his friends' acceptance. Harry wrapped his arms around his friends, holding them as close as possible and basking in the fact that they were _safe _and _here_. Harry knew then, as they all leaned into his touch instead of away, as they looked at him like he was the center of their world. They were his, and he was theirs, no matter what. They would never leave him or judge him for what he'd done, for who he was.

_This is the monster world, after all. _


	10. Wizard's Return

Harry tossed and turned in his sleep. His sweat covered skin clung to the sheets, and his hair stuck to his forehead. Harry grit his teeth and shivered violently as he thrashed. His scar throbbed ominously.

* * *

_Harry slithered through the dimly lit corridor. It was dark, but everything around him stood out in vibrant color. Harry scented the air with his tongue. More flashes of color came into the picture. _

_Around the corner, a man dozed in his chair. So vulnerable. Harry longed to dig his fangs into the man's exposed neck and spray his blood on the clean wall behind him. _

_No. _

_He had a mission. He had no time for distraction. Harry slithered around the man's desk, but the man's soft breaths suddenly picked up. The man startled, his heartbeat picking up like a scared mouse. Harry hissed happily. Getting rid of evidence did not count as a distraction. _

_The man took aim at Harry with his wand, but his spells would never break through his enchanted scales. Master had made him impenetrable. Harry's powerful muscles tensed, lifting him off the ground and rearing back. He could see himself reflected in the man's terror-filled eyes, a perfect creature of death. _

_He launched himself forward to bite the man's wand arm. The man cried out in agony, and Harry bit down harder, feeling the satisfying crunch of bone in his jaws. Harry wrapped his coils around the man's and body, silencing his screams and breaking several other bones in the process. The man struggled, briefly. Harry held on until the man's screams and wriggling died down. He released him after he passed out. Harry's venom would finish him off soon enough. _

_For now, he had a job to do and little time to do it._

* * *

Harry startled awake with a gasp. A vision. Harry would recognize them anywhere after fourth year. Harry's heart raced in his chest, his eyes blown wide as he tried to orient himself.

Harry had been a snake, Voldemort's snake, and he'd attacked someone… Mr. Weasley!

Harry launched himself out of bed and toward his desk. Mr. Weasley was injured, dying, and Harry needed to talk to the Order NOW. There was only one way Harry knew to get in touch with the Order. Harry stumbled, adrenaline waking him up but making him sloppy.

He slammed open the mysterious Tome of Requirement, urging it to tell him where he could find the nearest floo flower. The book must've sensed his urgency as the words filled the empty page almost instantly.

_Youkai Forest_

_Glowing green_

_Scent of magic and cinnamon_

_Located in the coldest, darkest corners_

_Not much, but it will have to do._

Harry sent a patronus to each of his friends, begging them to wake up and help him search.

He didn't pause a second between sending out the last patronus and rifling through his trunk for his broom. He spelled open his window, almost hard enough to break it, and shot out into the night sky like a dart. Harry had no time to appreciate the familiar feeling of the wind whipping his face or the beautiful full moon. He could only be thankful that he was getting to the forest quickly, and the bright moonbeams would light his way.

Harry swooped down into the forest, startling every critter and creeper in proximity. He searched every nook and cranny, every burrow and hidey-hole, every cave and tunnel.

_The coldest, darkest corners in the forest._

Harry twisted through the forest, using all of his quidditch skills to avoid getting decapitated by tree trunks and gravestones. No matter how hard he looked, time was against him. He hadn't caught so much as the glow of a firefly. The search was maddening.

Every second that ticked by was another second the poison in Arthur Weasley's blood had to spread. Another second that Arthur lied on that cold, stone floor all alone and dying. Another second Harry didn't know if he'd just witnessed the Weasley patriarch's murder.

Some time into his search- could've been a few minutes or a few hours, Harry couldn't tell- a large, winged shadow passed overhead. Kurumu dropped Yukari and Moka in different sections of the forest before flying off to one of her own. Harry spared them a grateful thought and ducked his head back into the abandoned fox den he was rooting through.

His search became more frantic as the seconds ticked on. Harry's face was covered in sweat, but he wouldn't spare a moment to wipe it. His hands were covered in blood from thorns, but he didn't notice. All his thoughts were of glowing green petals and a bloody form lying crumpled on the floor.

An excited howl cut through the still night air. Hope surged through Harry's heart. Gin had found it. He shot into the sky at break-neck speeds, following the howl to another part of the forest. Gin held the flower high above his head with a proud grin spread across his face.

Harry dive-bombed the clearing where Gin stood and gently took the flower from his hand. Harry sucked in a breath as he took in the sight of the floo flower, its glow made all the more beautiful with the knowledge that it was Mr. Weasley's lifeline.

Harry nodded his thanks, unable to form words as he tore off into the night once again. He slipped into his room, nearly avoiding injury, and flipped the Tome of Requirement open to the blank page and asked for the floo powder recipe. It came up quickly, like before, and Harry got to work.

He read and reread every step. Failure was not an option. The powder needed to be perfect. Harry mixed the ingredients dutifully. He followed every instruction to the letter.

Harry held his breath as he added in the final ingredient: crushed dragon shell. The glowing green mush turned into a familiar fine powder as the magic of the shell ran its course.

Harry transfigured a pencil and paper into a fireplace and some wood and lit it. He poured the small handful of powder into his palm. There was only enough for one attempt. This was the moment of truth.

Harry tossed the powder into the fireplace, praying to any God he could name that this would work. The fire stayed red for a few, heartstopping moments before bleeding into a beautiful green. Harry nearly cried.

He steadied his breath and spoke in a clear voice, "Grimmauld Place."

Harry stepped into the fire and immediately knew that something was wrong. The floo fire yanked him in, spinning him head over end and much faster than ever before. Unlike his first floo travel, there were no other fireplaces to look through, only endless spirals of green flames. The flames licked at Harry's arms and face like acidic kisses. His sleeves and pant legs caught on fire. Harry tried hopelessly to pat them out, but they always relit.

Harry's stomach turned as he was flung through the seemingly endless tunnel of green. Harry was just aware enough to be happy that he'd magically glued his glasses to his face or he'd have the added problem of losing them in the flames. Harry squeezed his eyes shut, hoping to get through this trip without throwing up on himself. He tucked his limbs in and brought up a hand to protect his head. Harry knew that this would be a rough landing.

After an unknowable amount of time, the flames spat him out onto solid ground. Harry hit the ground rolling. His tumble was stopped by a wall much tougher than his skin. Harry hit it with an audible _smack_. That was going to leave a mark. Harry remained curled up, trying to absorb the shock as he coughed his lungs out.

"HELP! *cough cough* Mist- *cough* Weasley! *cough cough*" Harry cried through fits of coughing.

Heavy footsteps came from upstairs as Harry tried to blink a fuzzy mixture of tears and ash from his eyes and pat out the flames eating up his clothing.

A pair of hands gripped Harry's shoulders steadily. "Harry! What's wrong?" It was Remus.

"Mister Weasley *cough* dying. Get help!"

Harry heard a gasp and Remus let go of him, his footsteps rushing towards the floo Harry had just burst out of. Another pair of hands settled on Harry's arms, helping him onto his feet.

The flash of green from the floo died off, and Remus's frantic footsteps disappeared, leaving the house silent. If it weren't for the steadying hands on his arms, Harry would've thought he was alone.

Harry wiped at his eyes, hissing as the salty tears met fresh burns. Harry felt someone push his hands out of the way. Something that felt almost like a breeze blew into his eyes, and then he could see. Harry blinked his eyes and looked up to see a familiar wand and an even more familiar face right behind it.

"Better?"

A big grin spread across Harry's face as he pushed the wand aside and wrapped his arms around his godfather. Sirius smiled down at him. He looked better than he had when they'd first found him, but not as good as he should have been after all this time.

Harry thought ruefully that his absence might have had something to do with that. Sirius had told him some time ago that animagi often took on the characteristics of the animals they turned into. Dogs were undoubtedly pack creatures, and Harry's absence may have slowed Sirius's recovery. Harry hugged the older man closer, a small frown playing at his lips. It was a good thing Remus was living with him now.

Sirius led Harry to the kitchen. Harry was thrown a bit when he noticed sunlight coming in through the kitchen window, but he soon remembered that time zones were very different in Japan and England. Harry took a moment to look around as it finally settled in that he was really _there_. He was in Grimmauld Place, in England, with Sirius. He was _back_.

"You alright there, Pup?"

Harry blinked, grounding himself quickly and smiling tiredly at his godfather. "Yeah, I'm fine."

Sirius raised a brow, his face flat and unbelieving. "You look like you've been put through the wringer and I don't just mean physically… but you don't look too good there either, you're crisp, and your clothes are torn to pieces."

"Damn, Siri. Don't sugar coat it too much."

Sirius smirked. "Never." He went about healing the burns and bruises that littered Harry's skin.

"So, what's happened since I've been gone?"

Sirius huffed a bitter sigh. "Nothing good. The Prophet's been slandering you and Dumbledore left and right, and some fools are actually starting to _believe _them. And Hogwarts isn't faring much better. Fudge planted his little groupie as the DADA professor. Ron and Hermione tell me she's a downright bitch. Won't even let them use magic in class, all theory. Last I heard, anyway. That was a while ago since she's got them under lock and key most of the time."

Harry hissed with a grimace. "That bad, huh?"

Sirius nodded ruefully. "That bad." He leaned forward, studying Harry for a moment. "So, really. What's wrong, Pup?" Sirius asked.

"I- I saw the attack on Mr. Weasley in a vision. I was inside the snake's head, and… I can remember it- attacking him, crushing his bones. It was a bit… disturbing. It's just… for all I know, Mr. Weasley could be dead. Maybe I was too late. What if I didn't get here fast enough?"

Sirius's eyes softened a bit, and he pulled his godson into a tight hug. "You can't keep blaming yourself for things that aren't your fault."

Harry's chest tightened. Judging by his tone, Sirius wasn't just talking about Mr. Weasley. Images of a cold graveyard and a bright green light flashed before his eyes unbidden.

"You can't just carry the weight of the world on your shoulders, Pup. Me, Remus, Ron and Hermione, the Weasleys: we're your family, maybe not by blood but family all the same, and that's what family is for. We're here to help you carry your weight just like you're always rushing to help carry ours. It's okay to rely on us sometimes."

Harry cracked a tiny smile. "I know," he said, almost too low to be heard.

Sirius tilted his head, curious at the wistful look in his godson's eye.

"I've made some great friends at the school Dumbledore sent me to. A while ago, they made me fill them in on the situation here in Britain. Of course, I'd been trying to protect them, keeping my life here and my life there separate, but they wouldn't have it." Harry chuckled, remembering the determined look in all of their eyes with a warmth that almost surprised him. "I think you'd really like them."

Sirius grinned, his eyes alight in a way Harry hadn't seen in a long time. "I'm glad you found some friends who could rein you in. Merlin knows Hermione tried her best, but Ron was right along with you."

The two shared a laugh. The tension in Harry's shoulders finally slipped away, and his smile grew just a bit lighter. No matter what had happened, Sirius could always cheer him up. No matter how many nights Sirius couldn't force himself to sleep or how many days he could hardly eat, he always tried to make Harry smile. He and Harry had a similar reckless nature, never truly caring enough about themselves and willing to give everything for those they loved.

It was saddening, seeing Sirius still trapped within the walls of this house, with all the wretched ghosts of his terrible childhood. The portrait of Sirius's mother, even though it was out of sight at the moment, mocked Harry with its very presence in the house. Sirius deserved better than this. After all of those years in Azkaban, the last thing Sirius needed was another prison.

Then, a thought struck him. "Hey, Sirius… are you any good at art?"

Sirius raised a brow. "Art?"

* * *

The next morning, Arthur was released from the hospital. The potions regimen he was on was strict, and he was covered in bandages because Skele-gro would mess with the antivenom potions, but he was fully lucid and would make a full recovery.

The second she saw him, Mrs. Weasley pulled Harry into a hug that would've squeezed the air out of him were it not for his reflexive inhale. Kurumu's constant hug attacks had trained him well.

"Thank you," Molly whispered, her voice tight with emotion. She pulled away, wiping at her eye, and placed a big kiss on Harry's forehead. "I'm making your favorites tonight, anything you want," she sniffed.

Harry smiled lightly, unsure of what to say to that. He placed his hand over hers and squeezed, hoping it would say what he couldn't. Molly nodded and retreated towards the kitchen to distract herself.

Harry finally greeted Arthur, who was sat at the head of the table looking exhausted but grateful.

"Thank you, Harry," Arthur said and nodded with a sincere smile on his face.

Harry nodded back and sat down next to him. "I'm glad I managed to get here in time."

"Speaking of which, how _did _you get back, Harry?" a voice said from behind him.

Harry turned around to greet the newcomer. Dumbledore smiled down at him. The old wizard sat down across from Harry and waited expectantly for his answer.

"I made a floo," Harry replied.

Arthur sputtered and Sirius, who had just wandered into the room, choked on his tea. Dumbledore's eyes twinkled just a bit brighter than usual, and he let out a jolly laugh.

"Well done, my boy. That's quite a tricky bit of magic you've accomplished."

"That's more than _tricky_, Albus, it's impossible!" Arthur exclaimed.

"How'd you even make it out in one piece?" Sirius asked, his hands twitching as he resisted the urge to re-check Harry for wounds.

Molly and Remus, as if summoned by the mention of Harry's possible injury, walked into the dining room with matching worried looks.

"Will someone please explain why this is such a big deal? I mean, it was pretty hard finding the floo flower before Gin started helping, but the powder itself was easy enough to mix." Harry looked around at the confused faces around him, hoping at least one of them had an answer.

"It's a _big deal_ because illegal international floos are strong enough to tear you apart!" Arthur said, his eyes wide with worry and confusion.

Harry blinked. That wasn't the answer he'd been expecting.

Dumbledore's pleasant expression hadn't changed the entire time. "I do believe that our dear Harry has experienced a bit of youki absorption," he remarked calmly.

"Huh?"

"Harry has been exposed to youki, or monster energy, in copious amounts for an extended time period, and his magic has adapted to it. In fact, his magic seems to have used the youki to strengthen Harry's body."

"But… I don't feel any stronger," Harry protested.

"Well I wouldn't think so. If you were just constantly using the youki your magic has absorbed, it wouldn't be much of an "absorption" now would it?" Dumbledore said pleasantly.

Harry raised a brow, suspicion beginning to brew. "You don't seem awfully surprised about this development."

"Of course not. That is, after all, the reason I sent you to Youkai Academy in the first place, well… part of the reason. Must've forgotten to mention it."

Harry gave the Headmaster a flat look. "Yeah… forgot."

Dumbledore smiled guilelessly at him.

Harry sighed. He'd spent enough time with his youkai friends to be used to the feeling of exasperation. "Alright, fine. More importantly, is there a way I can stabilize the floo so that others can travel to Youkai Academy without the risk of death?"

"But of course, why do you ask?" Dumbledore said, his eyes glittering with curiosity.

"Well, I was thinking…"

* * *

Harry walked through the floo the next day, for once landing on his feet instead of his face. Soft morning light streamed through his window and illuminated the pile of monsters laying on his bed.

Harry smiled fondly at them. They were here waiting for him. And they were so peaceful, Harry didn't really want to wake them. This was the closest Harry had ever seen them all together without a fight breaking out.

The sound of the floo flaring up once again took Harry out of his thoughts. The figure that stepped out dusted off his coat and grinned at the sight before him.

"What's this, Pup? I thought you said the pack of youkai you picked up over here were just friends of yours?" Sirius teased.

Harry sputtered out denials, and his godfather's grin grew wider. The commotion stirred a few of the sleeping youkai from their slumber. Mizore's head poked up first. She rubbed at her eye sleepily and yawned.

A blush dusted across Harry's cheeks. _Cute_.

Moka woke next, and her eyes lit up in excitement at the sight of Harry standing at the end of the bed.

"Harry-kun!" the vampire exclaimed, waking the others.

She leapt out of bed, disentangling her limbs from Yukari and Kurumu's, and tackled Harry in a hug. Harry had to fight to keep his legs under him as he caught the excited vampire.

"Can I...?" Moka asked shyly, her head tucked into Harry's shoulder.

Harry chuckled. "Knock yourself out."

"Capu-chu," the vampire squealed as she bit into Harry's neck.

"That's enough, Moka. You'll bleed him dry if you keep sucking on him so recklessly," Mizore spoke suddenly from behind them, glaring her warning at the vampire.

Moka pouted but let go, licking the last beads of blood from her lips as she pulled away. Harry looked back at the others. Gin was wide awake now. Unsurprising with Mizore's unfortunate use of the word "sucking." Kurumu and Yukari both eagerly slipped out of bed to greet Harry. Kurumu's preferred method of "greeting" was, of course, smothering by boob.

"Kurumu~" Yukari sang warningly as she waved her wand at the sleepy succubus.

"What, he can still breathe," Kurumu whined. She released the wizard nonetheless. It was much too early in the morning for a concussion.

Sirius cleared his throat from behind the group. Harry turned around, mentally smacking himself for forgetting his manners.

"Sorry about that. Guys, this is my godfather, Sirius Black. He's here to replace Ishigami."

* * *

The morning bell rang, and everyone had long since headed back to their rooms to get ready for the day. Harry was showing Sirius around campus.

"That's the teacher's lounge. That bathroom always has freezing cold water, so use the one down the hall. Don't drink from that water fountain over there on Tuesday. The water turns green for some reason, and no one really wants to find out why. There's the Home Ec room. If you stop by after third period on Friday, sometimes they let you taste the baked goods... And here is the Headmaster's Office."

"Thanks for the tour, Harry. If you hurry, you might make it to homeroom on time. No need to wait up."

With that, Sirius knocked on the Headmaster's door and walked in to meet his future employer. Harry walked off and made it to homeroom with seconds to spare.

"Do you think Sirius-san will get the job?" Moka asked worriedly.

Harry snorted. "If this place hires people like Ishigami, Sirius'll get in no problem. Besides, Sirius worked on his pitch all morning, and the man could sell ice to an Eskimo on a bad day."

"If that's the case, then he probably should've signed up for marketing. Noru-sensei is the most boring man alive, and I never learn anything in his class," Kurumu remarked.

"You're in marketing? I'm surprised you need a class to sell things… I was under the impression you'd just use your boobs to get through life," Mizore jibed.

Kurumu growled at her, raising a fist threateningly. "What was that Frosty? I'll have you know that I'm taking that marketing class so I can open up a successful bakery in the human world, and if you keep that up, I won't be selling any ice lollies when I do!"

Mizore glared. "You _wouldn't_."

"_Try me._"

The two glared at each other for a moment before snapping their heads away and crossing their arms at the same time. "Hmph."

Harry smiled. Despite their constant bickering, his friends were getting along rather well.

* * *

Sirius joined Harry and his friends that afternoon in their favorite spot on the roof. He had his bag on his shoulder. Harry frowned. Had the Headmaster really turned him down?

"Oh no, Sirius-san! I'm so sorry," Moka exclaimed

"What happened? Did the Headmaster choose someone else?" Kurumu asked.

"We have to convince the Headmaster that he made a mistake!" Yukari declared.

Moka nodded her agreement. "Yeah! We'll show him Sirius's capabilities as an artist and a teacher."

"Don't worry, Sirius-san, we'll all help you, okay?" Kurumu said.

Sirius's eyes widened at the onslaught of support from his godson's friends. His lips trembled briefly, and his eyes squeezed shut. The teens panicked, rushing to comfort him. That is until Sirius's composure broke and he let out a bellowing laugh.

"Who're you calling Sirius-san, kids? From now on, it's Sirius-sensei!" the wizard chuckled.

"What? What's the bag for then?" Yukari asked.

"Well, I can't very well stay with Harry, can I? I'm sure you kids will be using that room, and I don't want to be there when you get up to… whatever it is you do in there."

Harry felt his cheeks heat up rapidly. "Sirius!"

"What? Are you telling me that was a friendly boob-plant earlier?" Sirius laughed again. "Don't worry about it, Harry. When I was your age, I had girls and lads lining up in the Great Hall to ask me out. Can't say I ever tried for a harem, but I suppose the next generation was bound to surpass me at some point." Sirius wiped imaginary tears from his eyes. "I just didn't think it'd be so soon!"

Harry's cheeks got redder. "Sirius, please shut it."

"Now, now. Is that any way to talk to your new sensei, Harry?"

"Merlin, are you serious right now?" Harry facepalmed as he realized what he'd said.

"Yup! That's the name, Pup!" Sirius wore a broad, shit-eating grin.

Harry heaved a put-upon sigh as his friends burst into laughter. _At least they're having fun I guess._


	11. Evolution of the Succubus

"Aw man, we've procrastinated for far too long. The deadline's in two days, and we've only finished half the newspaper," Harry groaned as he worked on his article.

"Yeah, but maybe if _someone _hadn't insisted that we take a break to train, we'd have been done by now," Gin grumbled, rubbing his sore arms. Harry's hexes were a _bitch _to block.

"Stop whining, Rum. You could use the exercise. You were getting fat sitting on your ass and drooling over Harry all day," Kurumu snarked. She had been the first to go along with Harry's idea to start training after school(mostly because she wanted an opportunity to see Harry shirtless, but that was beside the point).

"I have not been getting _fat_. I'm all muscle. You, on the other hand, Tit-zilla…"

"What'd you say to me, Mutt?!"

The two bickered until Ms. Nekonome walked in with a cup of milk and a letter addressed to Kurumu.

As everyone else worked on their articles, Kurumu read the letter. Her cheeks flushed, and shadows fell over her eyes as her lips twisted into a grimace.

"Hey, Kurumu, what's wrong?" Harry asked as he looked up from his work.

Kurumu startled and shoved the letters into a nearby toolbox in her hurry to leave. "I- I have to go. Sorry, everyone." She didn't wait for an objection before sprinting out the door.

"Wait, Kurumu! You can't just leave right now!" Yukari called.

Moka pouted. "Geez, that's so selfish! She knows we're coming up on our deadline. What could possibly be so important?"

"I dunno, but whatever it was, I don't think it was good…"

Gin shook his head. "It's fine. If we keep working, we'll finish on time. We really don't have time to chase after her right now."

Harry frowned but continued working on his article. He'd have to ask her what that was about later. For now, the rest of the club needed him present.

* * *

Kurumu returned later on, just as everyone was ready to leave.

"Hey, I-"

"It's fine, Kurumu. We decided to finish up tomorrow. You can leave too," Yukari said, her tone sharp.

"Just," Moka sighed and shook her head in tired disappointment, "be here tomorrow."

Harry hung back as everyone but Kurumu left. He didn't bother to get up when he saw Kurumu come in.

"Hey, Kurumu. Is everything alright? You seemed upset when you left earlier."

Kurumu sat across from Harry. She hoped maybe she could do a bit of work to make up for her absence.

"I'm… fine, I guess. Today was rough, but it's over now, so it's okay!" Kurumu forced a smile onto her face. It was almost convincing… almost.

"Are you sure? You can talk to me about anything, Kurumu, I promise. If you need my help with something or you're just feeling sad… I'm here for you." Harry offered a genuine smile.

Kurumu wanted to talk to him. She wanted to tell him what was going on, and have him swoop in and solve all her problems, but… Kurumu looked over Harry's shoulder to see a slime-covered boy with long hair hiding in the shadows outside the classroom, watching and taunting. She couldn't do it.

"Really, I'm fine. You should go to your dorm, Harry. I've got a lot to do, and you're probably tired."

"Oh… I can stay if you'd like some company?"

"No. I'm fine, really. I- you should really go on ahead, Harry."

Harry frowned. He was suspicious. Whatever was going on with Kurumu, he needed to figure out what it was. Problems here were never just simple problems, and Kurumu was not the type to hide things, especially emotions. If something or someone was causing her to hide from Harry, it had to be _really _bad.

Harry walked away from the classroom, just around the corner, before putting a silencing charm on his feet. There was a moment while they were speaking. It was brief, but Kurumu had looked over his shoulder, and then she flinched. She had to have seen something. Harry was going to find out what.

"-'re being really cold, Kurumu. I'd suggest you watch that tone, or I might be tempted to show Harry these pictures," a slimy, nasally voice threatened.

"No, not Harry-kun. I thought you said just one date. Why are you-"

"If you want these pictures to stay just between you and me, then you'll meet me tomorrow at the same place. Understand?"

"No, anytime but tomorrow. I can't! Stop- Stop following me!"

Kurumu sprinted out of the classroom and in the opposite direction of Harry. Harry's face twisted into an angry snarl. Whoever was in that classroom was going to be on the receiving end of a particularly malicious curse.

Harry whipped out his wand and turned into the classroom, but no one was there. Whoever had been talking to Kurumu was gone… along with the papers they had almost managed to finish.

"Fuck!" Harry stormed out of the classroom to check anywhere he could've hidden, but there was no trace.

* * *

When the Newspaper Club gathered the next day, Harry was furious. So was everyone else.

"It's all gone!" Moka cried.

"Even the data on my computer… and the backup disk too!" Yukari exclaimed.

Kurumu was the last to walk in, just as Gin observed something strange. "Everything is covered in slime…"

Harry hadn't noticed it last night, but the slime clearly made something click with Kurumu. Harry was willing to bet it had something to do with whoever was with her last night.

"Kurumu, who was it?"

The room got quiet.

"I heard someone in here last night threatening you. Just tell us who so we can all find him and beat his arse."

"I- I can't…"

"Like hell you can't!" Gin objected.

"He has blackmail on her," Harry said. He looked back at Kurumu. "He said something about pictures." Kurumu flinched. Harry continued, "That's good. Pictures are physical objects, things you can take back or burn. That's all we have to do, so tell us who it is, Kurumu. We just want to help." Harry's tone was serious, brokering no argument.

"It's… Kano Nagare. He took pictures of me in my underwear, and he's threatening to show everyone if I don't go on dates with him." Kurumu had tears of shame in her eyes as she admitted what Nagare had done.

Harry sighed and pulled the succubus into a hug. "It's alright now, Kurumu. We won't let him do anything like that again. Do you want to stay here or come along? All we need is the time and location if you don't want to see him again," Harry spoke softly.

Kurumu sniffled and wiped the small tears away. "Are you kidding?" Her trademark smirk spread across her face, sharper now as she prepared to get her revenge. "I'm gonna slice that perv up like sardines."

Harry nodded and gave a mean smirk of his own. "Glad to see you're feeling better. So, when and where is this guy gonna regret the day he was born?"

* * *

Nagare sat in the branches of the school's famous Monster Tree. He held up the missing newspaper draft and backup disk with a smarmy grin.

"Oh, so you decided to show up for our date after all, huh? I guess you're looking for these~?"

Kurumu's fists shook in barely restrained rage. "I'm giving you one chance, Nagare. Give me the paper and the disk, and burn those pictures _or else_." Kurumu extended her nails and held them at the ready.

Nagare laughed condescendingly. "Was that your attempt at scary, my dear? You really aren't cut out for it with that pretty face of yours. Don't worry, Kurumu… over time, I'll straighten out that rebellious attitude of yours and you'll be my little doll forever. I think it's time we start our first obedience lesson."

Nagare leaped down from the tree, and his skin began to look like it was melting. Two stalks popped out of his neck, and his eyes extended until he was one big slug. The stalks from his neck released a thick cloud. Kurumu jumped back, careful not to inhale. The moment Nagare started to transform, the other members of the Newspaper Club slipped into the open to assist Kurumu, but the stubborn succubus waved them away.

"This is my fight, and I'm going to shred you to pieces, perv!"

"How're you gonna do that? If you get close, you'll be paralyzed. Kukuku. I don't know why you're not happier to be here with me than at that stupid club anyway. This paper is garbage, and I take much better pictures, don't you think?"

Kurumu growled. "You bastard." She shot into the cloud of paralyzing gas and sliced into the fatty slime. She slashed and slashed, faster than the slug could keep up with, but the slime coating was too thick, and Kurumu couldn't hold her breath much longer.

Just as she was about to retreat to get her breath back, Nagare latched onto her tail and kept her in the mist.

"Kurumu!" Moka called. She ran into the mist before her other friends could stop her and shoved the slimy monster away with all her strength. Kurumu managed to get out, but Moka accidentally inhaled some of the gas.

"Dammit, Moka, I told you not to get involved!" Kurumu yelled.

"Hehehe! Akashiya Moka. You were going to be my next target, but now… you and Kurumu-chan together? Oooo, this is too good. I think I'll start with you since you're already here~"

"Don't you dare!" Kurumu's voice was murderous. A dark aura surrounded her, strong enough to give Nagare pause. "Nobody, I mean _nobody _gets to hurt my friends, goddammit!"

The Monster Tree's roots started to break through the ground and lash out at Nagare. Nagare was forced back, and the branches locked around him.

"Why can't I m-move?" Nagare yelled, horror twisting his cocky expression.

Kurumu let out a battle cry and dive-bombed the slimy bastard. She sliced through his slime and into soft, yielding flesh. Nagare screamed in pain only to pass out from fear and shock. The roots disappeared, and the branches returned to normal.

"How-?" Moka murmured, barely able to move her lips.

"An illusion, succubi's most dangerous power," Harry answered, smiling proudly at Kurumu.

Kurumu panted heavily, but she wore a satisfied grin on her face. She would always protect her friends, no matter what. And with this new ability, she'd be able to protect them much more effectively.

Kurumu slowly rose from her crouch and lifted her fist to the sky as if she were declaring her victory to the heavens. "YA-HOOOO!"

* * *

The Newspaper returned to their club room and pulled an all-nighter to finish up the paper. Ms. Nekonome came in the next morning to see all of them fast asleep with the finished paper on her desk.

"My, my. You've all worked so hard, haven't you? Don't worry, sensei will make the copies. You kids get your rest," she whispered to her sleeping students.

Nekonome watched them all fondly. They'd been getting along so splendidly these last few days, just as she'd hoped they would one day. Her little kittens were growing to be a real team.

She switched her gaze over to Harry. As always, he was in the middle, unconsciously spreading his affection to all of his friends equally. Nekonome might play the bimbo, but she was far from stupid. All of her students liked Harry, and she knew he liked them too, but he was the only one to deny the attraction entirely. That just wouldn't do…

"Don't worry, little Romeo, Mama Kitty will sort you out."

* * *

The Newspaper Club, once again, gathered in the forest to train. Kurumu and Mizore had teamed up to fight Inner Moka, and Yukari and Gin teamed up to fight Harry.

For the fifth time in half an hour, Kurumu and Mizore were both thrown on their asses. "Dammit, this is impossible!" Kurumu lamented.

Inner Moka regarded her two "opponents" coldly. This whole training session was a waste of her time. She wasn't getting any stronger from this. It was like fighting a pair of toddlers.

Inner Moka sneered at the two. "That's enough. You two are ridiculously weak, and it's starting to irritate me. Go train amongst yourselves."

Harry took note of the scene out of the corner of his eye, not really surprised at the development. Inner Moka was proud and intolerant. That was kind of the point of getting her to train with them. If Outer Moka was serious about helping Harry with Voldemort, they would all need to work together. That meant Inner Moka had to learn to play nice with the other kids.

Harry dodged an attack from Gin by a hair. He had to duck under a swarm of tarot cards a second after. Harry had bought dragon hide armor in preparation for these sparring sessions. He intended for them to attack him without inhibition.

Harry clamped his lips closed and focused hard. He cast a silent flipendo on Gin. Harry cheered when the spell worked, and Gin was forced away from him, but his celebration was short-lived as Yukari snuck around behind him and used the same spell to bowl Harry over until he was face-planted in the mud.

"Yaaay! Gotcha, Harry-kun!" the younger witch cheered.

"Yeah yeah, you got me. I see you've mastered the disillusionment charm?"

"Yup!"

Harry smiled and wiped the mud from his face. He could hardly be upset with her when she'd used the spells he had taught her to take him down. He wondered if this was what it was like to have a younger sibling.

A loud growl interrupted Harry's proud reverie. Inner Moka glared at the wizard. Her eyes glowed an angry red as she stalked closer to him. "This is ridiculous. You're all weak! You have us all out here training aimlessly, running around and fighting each other like dogs! At this rate, you won't have to worry about Voldemort. You'll be dead before you leave school grounds," the vampire spat.

Harry's lips fell into an angry scowl. "Then what would you have me do, Moka? At least I'm doing _something_-"

"Watch your tone, wizard. I could kill you where you stand. The only thing that stays my hand is Outer's irritating attachment to you and your blood. Don't push your luck," the vampire hissed.

Inner Moka glared at Harry. Her aura grew dark and oppressive. Just a look from her had Harry's knees struggling to keep him upright, but Harry met her eyes defiantly. He would not be bullied or cowed into submission, even if he knew Inner Moka's words to be true.

"Outer Moka is weak, and you have the ability to remove my rosary. _That _is why I stay and help in your hopeless endeavor to improve your meager strength." Inner Moka's aura grew heavier, almost forcing him to his knees. "But if you all don't _get your shit together_ you will all die as soon as a truly strong opponent shows their face."

With that, Inner Moka snatched her rosary away from Harry, sat down by a tree, and attached it, leaving Outer Moka slumped unconscious.

Harry huffed, partially relieved to be free from Moka's overpowering youki but mostly frustrated at his own weakness. He likely couldn't have moved if he'd wanted to. Moka hadn't even had to touch him.

Mizore appeared next to Harry. He barely managed to keep himself from visibly startling when she suddenly rested a hand on his shoulder.

"It's alright, Harry-kun. I think you're very strong. Inner Moka's just a huge bitch," she said in her usual monotone.

"Yeah, Harry-kun! You're way strong!" Yukari pitched in, her voice colored in admiration.

Harry shook his head, biting back a self-deprecating sneer. "No, she's right…"

"As much as I hate to agree… there are people in this school right now that would be able to kill every one of us without breaking a sweat," Gin spoke from behind them, a pensive frown marring his typically laid-back features.

Harry made a personal note to ask Gin who specifically he was talking about, but he nodded in agreement. "Exactly. If we're going to be able to take on Voldemort, we'll have to make it out of Youkai Academy alive. And I don't know if you've noticed… but it seems that just about everyone in this school wants to kill us at some point."

Kurumu frowned. "Well, that just means we'll have to get stronger. I don't care what it takes, or even if I have to fight Inner Moka a hundred more times. I'm going to become strong enough to help you, Harry-kun!" Kurumu's eyes gleamed with determination.

The others nodded in agreement, fists clenched and eyes burning. Harry smiled at them. "Well, I guess that means we'll be out here for a while, doesn't it?"

* * *

They had been training for hours. The sun had set a little while ago, and Outer Moka woke up a few hours before. Moka trained with them for a while, but without her powers, she didn't last as long as the others. Instead, she busied herself with bringing them lunch and endless bottles of water. When the sun had finally set, she took it upon herself to bring a few sleeping bags and blankets for the group.

They were all huddled around a fire, huffing and chugging water like their lives depended on it.

"It's so cold out here! Whose idea was it to stay out so late?" Kurumu bemoaned, huddling closer to Harry. It would've even looked romantic if they weren't both covered in sweat.

"I'm regretting it already," Harry groaned, leaning into Kurumu and the fire and shaking like a leaf.

Moka returned from the dorms once again with graham crackers, marshmallows, and chocolate bars. She set them down on a mat she'd brought earlier and sat down next to Harry, huddling in against the cold.

"I don't see what everyone's complaining about. It's a lot warmer than back home out here," Mizore remarked, eying the spot next to Harry with a pout. If she huddled against him like Kurumu, she'd probably give him hypothermia.

"Easy for you to say!" Yukari whined. She was tucked against Moka's side, nursing a cup of tea she had heated up with her summoned tea kettle.

Gin sat down next to Yukari with an armful of sticks and tossed them into the fire. "Eh, it's not too bad. The woods back home used to get so cold your tears'd freeze to your face."

"Father's castle used to be freezing in the winters, but there were fireplaces everywhere," Moka commented.

"Ugh, I couldn't do it. Mom made sure to set us up somewhere tropical for the winters. It doesn't do to have a succubus shivering her tits off," Kurumu said, tugging her blanket closer to her body.

"I used to be able to tolerate cold weather, but then I guess Hogwarts spoiled me a bit with the warm coats and heating spells… Oh right!" Harry cast a heating spell around them, getting many sighs of relief from around their little circle.

"Why didn't you do that earlier?" Yukari exclaimed.

Harry rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment. "Sorry, I kind of forgot about the heating spell. I blame exhaustion making my brain numb."

"Forget about it. We're all warm, and now we've got s'mores to make!" Moka intervened.

The teens dug in happily, seemingly forgetting how cold and tired they all were just a few moments before. They chattered amongst themselves lightly and ate s'mores until they were full and content. The group tucked themselves into their sleeping bags afterward and slipped off to sleep.

* * *

Harry awoke screaming. Even as he opened his eyes, darkness lingered around him. He heard voices around him, his friends. He couldn't see anything; he couldn't _see them_. Darkness engulfed Harry, almost palpable. It was suffocating.

"Harry?"

"Harry-kun, what's wrong?"

"Harry-kun!"

Their voices were frantic. Harry blinked hard, trying to clear his vision. The darkness cleared after a few terrifying moments. Harry looked around at his friends' worried faces.

"I'm sorry," he apologized reflexively.

"What happened? Why did you yell?" Moka asked.

"I- nightmare. I don't remember… I just woke up, and I couldn't see anything."

"It's okay, Harry-kun. You're here with us, and you're safe," Kurumu consoled. She tugged him into a soft embrace.

Harry slowly untensed as he sank into Kurumu's arms. The succubus's tactile nature seemed to suit the situation well as a few moments later, Harry released a breath he didn't know he was holding and relaxed completely.

The others released a sigh of relief as well. Gin grabbed a bottle of water from the bag Moka had brought out earlier in the night or- Harry glanced up at the lightening sky- maybe that was yesterday. Harry took the bottle gratefully and downed it in a few seconds.

"Thank you. I- you guys should really get back to sleep. It's really early… Sorry I woke you," Harry apologized.

Mizore leveled Harry with a scolding glare. "Don't apologize for having a nightmare."

"Yeah. We're glad you didn't have to wake up from that alone. You looked really scared," Yukari noted, looking upset at the thought.

Harry smiled. "Thank you. I don't know what I'd do without you."

Kurumu beamed. "You'll never have to find out if I've got anything to say about it."

Moka nodded seriously. "You'll never be alone as long as we're around, Harry-kun."

Harry smiled at her, remembering what she'd said the first day they'd met.

"_You're my first friend!"_

Harry looked around him, meeting all of his friends' eyes. Now that he thought about it, all of them had been loners before meeting him. Now they were all part of a tight-knit group, and Harry wouldn't let anything or anyone take them away. "And neither will you," he vowed.


	12. Christmas!

**A/N: I know it's late, but here's a Christmas Chapter! Lots of fluff and seasonal cheer :)**

**Also, I'm in a bit of a developmental period as an author, so don't be surprised if my writing style changes a bit(or a lot) throughout this book. This is the first book that I've actually dedicated myself to finishing or even have an ending in mind for. Some of you seem to like it, and I thank you for motivating me to continue writing. I appreciate you! **

**This chapter is dedicated to one of you in particular:**

**ShiroHollow96**

* * *

Harry woke up on Christmas morning to a chorus of voices screaming "MERRY CHRISTMAS HARRY/ HARRY-KUN!" at the top of their lungs. Harry's returning yell was a lot less cheery and embarrassingly high-pitched. He lurched up off of his bed to see all of his friends at the foot of his bed. Surprisingly, this included Sirius, Remus, Ron, and Hermione.

They were all wearing Christmas-themed costumes. The group ranged from Hermione(just short of nun level) to Kurumu(if she moved, you could see her panties). His godfather was embarrassingly closer to Kurumu's end of the spectrum, and Moka was, unfortunately, closer to Hermione's. Harry looked away from the vampire before he could ponder that thought any further.

Kurumu had an outfit in her hand and a lecherous smirk on her face. Harry could tell immediately that the outfit was his and he was _not _going to like it.

"Get up and get into your Christmas outfit, Harry-kun!" Kurumu chirped.

_Definitely not gonna like it._

With a sigh, Harry accepted the articles of clothing, noting their small size as he left the room to change. After a lot of wiggling to get into the jeans and straining to stretch his arms through the tight shirt, Harry managed to get into his new clothes. They were… better than he'd expected.

The shirt was skin tight and didn't come all the way down to his waistline. It looked like Santa's coat, but it had nowhere near as much coverage. The jeans were blood red and low-riding. They were also really tight in the back. The whole outfit was topped off with a regular floppy Santa hat.

Overall, Harry looked like Santa's stripper cousin. He really wished Kurumu could've laid off of the sexual antics with his family visiting. Why he expected anything else was beyond him. With a deep sigh, Harry opened the door to his room.

As he'd expected, Yukari was discussing magical theory with Hermione with stars in her eyes. The younger witch had clearly found a new idol. Hermione didn't seem to mind finally having a witch to match her intellect.

Moka and Kurumu were pestering Ron for stories of "little Harry." Ron tried to reconcile himself with the fact that these hot girls were talking to him and more unbelievably that they were talking to him because they were _Harry's friends_. Mizore stood nearly invisible behind Ron until she decided to pipe up with a question of her own, nearly giving Ron a heart attack.

Sirius and Remus were talking about canine stuff with Gin who seemed pretty happy to hang out with the two older men and get stories of _baby _Harry. Harry could tell that he would not live down whatever information they were giving him.

Hermione looked absolutely scandalized when she caught sight of Harry. Gin and Kurumu looked absolutely giddy- like two pervs in a strip club. Mizore eyed him predatorily. Moka blushed, sneaking peeks at him while pretending to look elsewhere. Ron laughed at him, and Remus looked embarrassed _for _him. Sirius had the gall to wolf whistle mockingly. Harry was mortified.

He glared at Ron as the redhead opened his mouth. "Not. A. Word."

He closed his mouth, but the snarky smirk on his face remained.

"Ya-hoo hoo! Do you like the outfit I made you, Harry-kun?"

"I do," Mizore spoke from behind Harry.

Harry jumped and whirled around. How had she even gotten there?

"You should let your girlfriend dress you more often, Harry!" Ron teased

"Wh- she's not-"

Kurumu slapped a hand over Harry's mouth and smiled proudly at Ron.

"He really should! In fact, I've got another outfit I'd like you to try after the party, dear~"

Judging by the lecherous smirk on her face, Harry could judge that this "outfit" showed a lot more skin than the Santa one. Before she could do anything else(most likely along the lines of "friendly suffocation"), her entire lower body was encased in ice.

"He's not your boyfriend, Tits. He's mine," Mizore stated blandly.

The snow woman ignored Kurumu's outraged cries and latched onto Harry, sliding her hand over his exposed abdomen. Harry shivered at the cold touch.

"No way! If anyone's Harry-kun's girlfriend, it's me!" Moka protested.

She shoved Mizore off of Harry and nuzzled his neck possessively. Her rosary glowed angrily. Somehow, Harry knew Inner Moka would murder him if he ever mentioned the show of emotion to her.

Kurumu managed to break out of Mizore's ice. The three girls were immediately at each others' throats. Harry attempted to calm them but was given a trifold scathing glare for his attempt that could freeze hell. Women were terrifying.

Harry slowly inched away from the fight and threw desperate looks to Gin for the werewolf to try his hand at breaking up the fighting females before they managed to tear up his room. With a slightly put-upon look, Gin stood up from his comfy seat next to Sirius and made his way over. Harry sighed, relieved.

Of course, nothing could go the way he wanted. That was absurd. Instead of going to the quarreling girls, Gin stopped beside Harry. Harry barely had time to shoot him a questioning look. The wolf lifted Harry bridal style and smirked victoriously at the trio.

"If he's gonna be anyone's boyfriend, he'll be _mine_."

By now, Harry's face was doing a wonderful impression of a tomato. Sirius, ever the arse, was giving Harry a thumbs up and wiggling his brows. Hermione looked like she'd swallowed a lemon or three. Ron looked at him like he was a god. Remus seemed content to just ignore the whole situation.

_Damn, I was hoping he'd help._

"Gin, put me down!"

Gin pouted. "Whatever happened to Gin-senpai? You should have more respect for your upperclassman."

Harry was about to tell Gin just where he could shove his _respect_, but Hermione's voice interrupted.

"Sirius, why didn't you tell us Harry had a- a _harem _last floo call?!"

"I don't!"

Though, with the handsome upperclassman holding him bridal style and everyone fighting over who Harry's girlfriend/boyfriend is… he can see how it might look a bit like a harem. Just a bit. It wasn't.

Hermione didn't seem too convinced. Neither did Ron or Sirius or anyone else in the room. Harry sputtered, trying desperately to assure them that no one was forming any harems and he was absolutely _certain _that if he were in a harem he'd be the first to notice. Gin gave him a flat look that said _you're a complete idiot please shut up before everyone else figures that out. _Harry wisely shut up.

Harry managed to squirm his way out of Gin's arms, but not without an "accidental" ass grab from Gin. Harry sent a stinging hex at the offending hand and sent him a look that _dared _him to complain about it. Gin wisely kept his mouth shut.

Sirius grinned proudly at his godson. "Like bees to honey, just like your Uncle Padfoot."

"Yeah, but I'm pretty sure _Harry's _not shagging all of them," Remus said, then added, "Probably."

Harry looked at Remus, betrayed. "No! There is _no _shagging going on."

"Unfortunately," Kurumu lamented.

Gin and Mizore nodded their agreement. Moka blushed.

"Can we _please _stop talking about Harry shagging his friends," Hermione begged with a cringe.

"Yes! Um, why don't we go to Grimmauld Place and eat! Then we can open presents!" Moka suggested, eager to get off the topic.

Harry had almost forgotten that they were spending Christmas weekend with Sirius. The group made their way through the floo in Harry's room one by one, the wizards helping the others with the process. Harry, miraculously, managed to get through without tripping. He was getting much better at magical travel.

Grimmauld Place was more vibrant than Harry had ever seen it. The portrait of Sirius's mum was covered with a heavy black curtain that was spelled with the strongest silencing charms Sirius could manage. Kreacher had been ordered to stay upstairs and away from people for the holiday. Harry doubted that he was too upset about it.

The old halls were fully decked with holly, and there was a large Christmas tree in the corner of the living room. There were Christmas lights all around. The air smelled of cinnamon and chestnut. In the kitchen, there was a full table of breakfast.

Sirius had gone all out to make Grimmauld Place feel welcoming. Harry wouldn't mention to him that his monster friends who felt at home in graveyards would've definitely loved the place even if he'd left it alone.

Breakfast was delicious. It was also peaceful, which Harry felt was a nice change. His friends spoke amicably. Kurumu, Yukari, and Mizore had been cleverly seated far away from each other to prevent any fighting. Harry sat between Sirius and Hermione to avoid any fighting on the basis of "picking favorites."

Harry had to admit, as annoying as it was, he'd never thought anyone would ever want to be around him that badly before. It was honestly a bit worrying that they fought over him, though. He cared about all of his friends, and no matter how fiercely he protested it, he was attracted to all of them. He just wouldn't- couldn't- choose between them. No matter who he chose, the others would be hurt, so he just refused the attraction entirely.

Deep down, it filled him with a sense of relief that none of them ditched him even if he didn't give them what they clearly wanted. That, and none of them had ever tried to force his decision. He really didn't think he deserved friends like them, romantic interests or not. They were all so talented and beautiful and he was just… Harry.

_Guess I'll just have to get better then. No matter what, I'll protect them. And maybe one day, I'll be good enough to deserve their company. _

Harry finished his breakfast around the same time as everyone else. When everyone was ready, they all migrated to the living room to exchange gifts.

Because of the size of the group, they decided to take turns. Moka went first. She gave their friends their gifts first. Surprisingly, she'd also gotten Harry's family presents.

She gave Hermione a pair of shoes from her and Yukari, who had charmed them to fit any size. She bought Ron a go board. Harry had let slip that he liked chess, and Moka thought go was an appropriate eastern equivalent.

For Remus, Moka had gotten a box of tea meant to calm nerves. She gave Sirius a muggle rock album. Apparently, Remus had mentioned he had a fondness for a band called Queen on one of his floo calls with Harry. Harry hadn't even remembered.

Moka was excited to give Harry his present, which turned out to be _presents_. They were two plants. One was a softly glowing blue plant while the other was tiny and purple.

They looked a lot like... "Are these the nogareru and hakkā plants?"

Moka blushed lightly. "I saw your notes a while back, and you seemed really interested in them."

Harry beamed at the vampiress. "Thank you, I'll make sure to fill you in on all of my experiments." Because it turned out that Potions is infinitely easier without an old grumpy bat hanging over your shoulder waiting for a single failure.

Next was Gin, who approached Harry with a shit-eating grin. Harry immediately knew that he was in for a prank gift. The wolf pulled a long parcel from behind his back, and Harry hoped for all he's worth that it was _not _a giant dildo because he would definitely die if it was. Harry eyed Gin's expression with suspicion as he opened the present _very _slow.

He peeked into the box, not daring to reveal whatever was inside without seeing it first. Thankfully, it was not, in fact, a dildo. It was a broomstick. Not a real(magical) broomstick of course. It was a regular muggle Halloween prop that Gin had carved Christmas trees and witch's hats into. The wood was still pretty sturdy, and if he wanted to, Harry could figure out how to spell it to fly. Maybe he would.

"Cute. I got you something similar."

Now Gin looked suspicious. "An' what's that?"

Harry smirked. "You'll just have to wait until it's my turn. Sit, boy."

Gin looked like he wanted to protest, but the fight would've drawn out the time until he could see his gift. With an indignant huff, the werewolf reclaimed his spot.

Kurumu was next. She gave her friends a few gag gifts of her own. She gifted Moka with a clove of garlic and Yukari with socks to stuff her bra. She got Gin a dog bone and Mizore a plush snowman.

She happily settled in Harry's lap to give him her present. She'd baked him a plate of cookies. This was far from the first time Kurumu had baked for him, but this plate was amazing. The moment the bite of cookie had hit his tongue, Harry was shoveling the rest of it into his mouth. They were so sweet and soft. It was like eating the food form of happiness.

"Holy- Merlin, what type of potion did you put in these, Kurumu?"

The succubus smirked proudly. "None. That's all me, hon. I put all my love into those cookies."

She gracefully removed herself from Harry's lap and sashayed back to her spot with a victorious smirk.

Hermione's turn was next.

Next to Harry, Yukari whispered into his ear. "She's so freaking cool. Why didn't you introduce us earlier?"

"I didn't think the world could handle it," he whispered back.

"That's no fair," Yukari whined. "You know how much I've wanted to make more witch friends."

"Well, now you've got one. Please try not to crumble the Academy with whatever you two make together."

Yukari smirked deviously. "No promises."

Hermione made her way around the circle to Harry and handed him her present. It was a stack of books. He'd kind of expected that. What he hadn't expected was the _type _of books.

"The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe", "Pride and Prejudice", "The Giver".

They were all muggle books. Ever since he'd met her, Hermione had fully invested herself in the Wizarding World. She never really talked about her muggle roots aside from a few offhand mentions. She was giving Harry a piece of herself that she had yet to share. A soft smile crept onto Harry's face as he read the descriptions on the well-loved book jackets.

"Before I knew that I was a witch, these books were my magic. I've read all of them at least three times. But when I started at Hogwarts, I had something even more amazing to devote my attention to. Since I haven't read them for so long, I thought you would enjoy them. Maybe you could use a little muggle magic."

Harry gave her a heartfelt thank you and a vow to keep them in good condition. He set them carefully behind him so he wouldn't lean on them. After Hermione sat down, Mizore was up.

The yuki-onna wasted no time handing Harry his present. She watched him unwrap it with an intense stare. Harry was pretty sure that was Mizore's way of showing excitement. The gift was a big fur coat. Mizore gestured for him to try it on.

Harry put on the coat. It was like wearing a furnace. Harry was sweating almost immediately. Before he could take it off again, Mizore slid into his space and embraced him. Her icy skin evened out the heat of the coat.

"I noticed that you get cold really quickly, but you're too nice to make me go away. Now I can touch you just as much as the others."

"Thank you, Mizore." Harry smiled down at the yuki-onna and hugged her back for a moment before slowly pulling away.

Mizore looked bummed at the separation, but she allowed it for today. Harry slid the coat off almost immediately after she let go. Without her cold skin, the coat was way too warm to be worn. Harry folded it and set it aside.

Yukari didn't have to move to get to Harry, so she gave him his present first. It was a pretty watch made of silver, but that wasn't its most important feature. Instead of hours, there were initials on the clock's face. Harry recognized them almost immediately. RL, YS, HG, MA, RW, GM, SB, KK, MS. They were the initials of his friends and family(the ones they'd met, anyway). This was a smaller version of the Weasley family clock. The hands said things like "injured", "badly injured", "sad", "scared", and "dead".

The last one sent a shiver down Harry's spine. As long as he was around, he'd never let the watch strike "dead" for anyone.

"I made it myself! You told me about it once when we were studying magical items, and I just knew I had to make one for you. All it took was a little blood from everybody. Now you won't have to worry about us when you're away," she chirped.

Harry smiled at the pride in her voice. "Thank you. Good job, Yukari. This is some complicated spellwork. I'm proud of you."

Yukari grinned at him, wide. It was really all she'd wanted to hear. No one appreciates a genius after a while. People get used to success. Praise stops coming because soon, success is what's expected. Harry always praised her for accomplishments, even if they were small. She was proud to call him a friend, even if she knew, deep down, that he would never like her like he did the others.

Yukari skipped away to give out more presents, pleased with Harry's acknowledgment. Harry looked around the circle at everyone. It was frankly amazing that both groups of friends managed to mix so well when they could hardly get along with each other on a normal day. Hermione and Ron were always bickering, and the girls always had something to fuss about. A little peace every now and then was appreciated.

Sirius was next. He gave Remus a box, telling him to open it later with a devious smirk. Harry… really didn't want to know. After that, Sirius sat down across from his godson and gave him his gift: a mirror.

Seeing his confusion, Sirius explained. "It's a two-way mirror. You use it to communicate. James and I used them when we were in separate detentions." Sirius smiled wistfully.

Sirius revealed his own mirror and looked into it. In Harry's mirror, he could see Sirius's face.

"Wow," Harry said. He held the mirror almost reverently. This had belonged to his father. He could _feel _the energy, the joyful memories attached to the mirror like a second skin. He could hear his father's laugh in the glass. The magic in the mirror was singing to him. He would cherish it, like he was sure the man who owned it did. Like Harry knew he'd cherish him if he'd had the chance.

"I only wish I'd given it to you before you left the first time."

Harry smiled, comforting. "If you had, I wouldn't have figured out a way to come back. We wouldn't all be having Christmas together. Thanks, Sirius."

Sirius accepted the reassurance, smiling brightly at his almost grown godson. This boy already in a harem and was getting targeted by dark lords. Damn, even James had waited until after Hogwarts to fight The Man. It was hard to look at this boy, who Sirius could still remember in nappies, and see the man that would save their way of life. _But_, he thought, _I couldn't imagine a better man for the job. _

Remus joined them shortly, having given his other gifts already. The werewolf sat down next to Sirius, leaning into him a bit. He handed Harry a thick leather-bound book. It was titled, _All About Animagi_ by Trevor Transoma.

_Why is the Wizarding World so obsessed with alliteration?_

The pages were wrinkled, and there were a few stains on them. The bindings were intact but worn. A few pages were dog eared. The book had seen some heavy use over the years.

"This is the book that your father and Padfoot used to become animagi. We thought it would be a useful skill to have going forward." The _in the war _and _in that colosseum you call a school _were unspoken but clearly heard.

"Thanks, Uncle Moony. I have a gift for you too."

Remus carefully opened his gift, a book on eastern werewolves. When Harry saw that Gin could control his Shift at any time, even the full moon, he'd done a bit of research. It turned out that the ability was the product of a ritual.

Legend had it that the ritual was originally created by a powerful wizard who fell in love with a werewolf. He couldn't stand to see his husband in pain from his transformations, so he found a way to solve his furry little problem.

Whether or not the story was historically correct was unknown. The original ritual was also lost to time, but a modern version had been created a few years back. In the book, the author had written a detailed guide for performing the new ritual.

With it, Remus might not be able to instantly gain control of his inner wolf, but he would have the _ability _to. Knowing Remus, that was all he'd need. Harry had placed a bookmark on the page with the ritual and instructed Remus to read the book as soon as he could.

Remus, not yet knowing the value of the book in his hands, was overwhelmed with joy that Harry had gotten him a present. He honestly would've been satisfied with a "World's Most Okay Teacher" mug. If it was from Harry, he would treasure it.

Deep inside, Remus's inner Wolf was wagging its tail happily. His Pup called him a Family Name and gave him a present and introduced him to his new Pack! He longed to Scent the Pup, but the Man resisted. He longed to Howl, but the Man would not let him. The Wolf pawed at his mind, but like he always did, the Man pushed him further down. The Wolf longed for freedom.

Little did he know, he would soon have it.

"I have a gift for you too, Sirius. Well, It's kind of for both of you, I guess."

Harry handed Sirius a small picture. It was a little cottage, hidden away in a curtain of foliage.

"Guess where that is."

Sirius pursed his lips in thought. "Uhh. The woods."

Harry gave him a flat look. Sirius returned it with an unashamed smile.

"You're lucky you're pretty, Sirius. It's in the forest of the Academy. This way you don't have to travel back and forth from Grimmauld Place, and you don't have to live with the other teachers, either. Ms. Nekonome says the teachers' quarters are pretty small, and I figured you want Remus there with you."

Sirius's usual cocky grin softened out into an adoring smile. "Thank you, Pup."

Sirius pulled his godson into a hug and Remus beside him. The two semi-canine(and therefore tactile) men reveled in the contact with their Pup and each other. Their tiny Pack was so often split up. They rarely got to bask in the scent of family.

Remus indulged his Wolf just a bit, brushing his wrist over the back of Harry's neck. The only ones who would really notice the older werewolf's scent were Harry's new Pack. Somehow, Remus doubted that any of them would be opposed to the additional protection that his scent provided.

After a while, the older wizards released Harry to give out the rest of his presents. Harry hung back for a moment, staying even as they let go so they knew that he didn't mind the show of affection. He made a mental note to visit them in their cabin often.

Harry looked at the first present in his hand. Kurumu. Harry sought out the succubus, finally finding her in the kitchen. She was snacking on some of the pastries in the cupboard and teasing Yukari. The young witch was trying to get at some of the cookies in Kurumu's hand, but she was holding them high over Yukari's head. When Kurumu saw Harry nearing, she allowed Yukari to snatch the cookies from her.

Harry stopped Yukari before she could walk out. "Hey, I've got a gift for you."

Harry watched as Yukari opened her gift: a handwritten spellbook. It had all the spells that Harry had learned and all the tips he'd picked up to learn them quicker. It had taken Harry a while to organize it, but it was worth it for the look on Yukari's face as she flipped through her present.

Yukari's eyes were alight with wonder. She hugged the book to her chest, and for a moment, she looked exactly like the child she was. She bounced on the tips of her heels and allowed a glass-breaking squeal to escape her in her excitement.

"Thank you thank you thank you!" she squeaked.

She launched her small frame at Harry, almost managing to knock him off balance before he righted himself and squeezed the young witch. Harry smiled affectionately down at the little girl, his sister in all but blood. Even with her awkward crush on him and Moka(which he prayed every day she'd outgrow), she was the most lovable little devil alive.

Yukari released Harry and ran out of the kitchen, presumably to show her present off to Moka and Hermione.

Harry turned back to Kurumu. He caught her staring after Yukari with a fond smile. She immediately dropped it when she saw Harry looking, but it was too little too late. She'd been caught. Harry mercifully refrained from commenting, but his smirk said everything he didn't. Kurumu glared in warning. Harry gave her a thoroughly unconvincing innocent look.

"Merry Christmas, Kurumu."

Harry handed her two books. Both were recipe books, but one was from Europe and the other was Asian. There was a vast array of dishes from pastries to dinners. Kurumu took great pride in her culinary skills. Harry thought she'd appreciate the new challenge. He'd apparently thought right.

Kurumu beamed at him, bright as the sun. The honest emotion tugged at Harry's heart. Kurumu, even if she didn't show it, always kept a tight hold on what she allowed everyone else to see. Her genuine smiles were rare. Harry was honored that they were usually reserved for him.

Before he could brace himself, Harry had an armful of succubus. She thankfully refrained from suffocating him this time, but she planted a big kiss on his cheek. Harry sputtered, surprised. Kurumu merely pointed above them with a devilish grin. Harry looked up to see a sprig of mistletoe.

"Well played," Harry remarked.

Kurumu released Harry from her hold. "Always." Her cocky smirk was back, but it was softer, kinder than usual.

Kurumu allowed Harry to go and give out the rest of his presents, but she knew she'd have more time with him. No matter how exhausted or busy, Harry always made time for them. She had no reason to believe that he would do any differently today. Kurumu might be jealous in nature, but she knew, even with all the quarreling she did with the others, that she could trust Harry.

Kurumu picked out a pastry in one of her new recipe books and began to assemble the ingredients. By the time she was finished, she would have Harry in her arms once again, and she'd be surrounded by friends. Today, just for today, she'd allow them to see that she cared for them too.

Harry went back to the tree and collected another pile of gifts. He found Gin next. The werewolf was lounging on the couch, watching their friends as they cheerfully celebrated the holiday with tales and egg nog. Gin's content expression didn't change, but Harry could see the excitement in his eyes as he approached.

Harry handed Gin his gift and watched as the wolf opened it with just as much suspicion as Harry had. The gift was a bone-shaped dog collar with "Gin-senpai" written on a silver dog bone. On the back of it was, "Harry Potter's pet wolf."

"Oh, is that a smile? Come to think of it, you do seem to love being called Gin-senpai… What's up with that anyway? You have a thing for younger men?" Harry teased.

Gin tried to play vaguely amused, but the light blush on his cheeks gave him away. Harry cheered internally at the chance to finally make the perverted werewolf embarrassed.

"Oooo, is that a blush I see? What was it then, younger men, the dog collar, or that the back of the bone that says you're mine?"

Gin's blush grew with every accusation, and Harry was absolutely reveling in it. Maybe you _could _teach an old dog new tricks. Shame was something Harry hadn't ever seen on Gin's face, but he wore it well. Very rarely would Harry put "Gin" and "innocent" in the same _paragraph _with each other unless "not" was somewhere in between, but that was how he looked at the moment.

Harry decided to push his luck, which never went well for him. "It's the claiming then, is it? Does that mean Gin-_senpai_ is a sub?"

Gin growled low in his throat and seized Harry by his shirt. Well, so much for pushing his luck. Harry had just gone and pushed it over a cliff.

Gin spoke right beside Harry's ear, voice pitched low and throaty in a way Harry hadn't heard from him before. "You keep teasin' me like this, Potter, an' I'm gonna show how _dominant _I can be."

It was spoken like a threat. Harry's breath caught in his throat, and his heart rate picked up, but he wasn't afraid. He wished he were. Afraid would be better than whatever weird _feeling _was curled up in Harry's gut at the moment. Anticipation? Desire? Whatever it was, Harry knew it was dangerous. Just like his feelings for the others, Harry forced this- whatever it was- down and put some distance between him and Gin.

"Yup, got it. No more teasing. Okay." Harry's voice was higher than usual, airy from his sudden inability to breathe. Before Gin could comment on the reaction, Harry shoved another present into his hands. "I didn't _just _get you a gag gift, so here."

Harry wanted to retreat while Gin was distracted with his real present, but the werewolf was unwilling to let him escape so easily. Instead, he handed him a second present of his own, not commenting on the fact that he'd been waiting until now to give it to him. They both opened their presents at the same time.

Harry's gift was a photo album, and Gin's was a magical camera.

The photo album had pictures of everyone in the Newspaper Club. Some were individual pictures, and others were group shots. Harry only remembered a few of them. The rest were mostly off-guard photos. Gin seemed to favor unaware subjects… well, that explained a lot.

The camera Harry had given Gin was a lot like a polaroid. It printed photos instantly. Gin took his first picture of Harry who waved at the camera despite Gin's confusion. When the picture came out, the little Harry in the picture waved up at them. Gin's jaw dropped.

"Holy shit, you got me a wizard camera! Thanks, Harry, this thing's amazing!"

All of the earlier tension faded as Gin darted around the room taking pictures of just about everything that moved. Harry chuckled at his club leader as he ran around like a kid in a candy store. Innocence. Christmas really did bring out the best in people.

Harry stashed the album and the rest of his gifts in his room upstairs. This way, none of them were at risk of getting stomped on or tripped over.

The next present in Harry's slowly shrinking pile was Mizore's. It was a little tricky to find her. Grimmauld Place was full of shadows and nooks to hide in. In the end, he didn't find her at all. She found him.

"You look lost, Harry-kun. I thought this was your house." Mizore's voice came from directly behind him.

Harry just barely managed not to jump but only because he was expecting a scare sometime during the search. This was Mizore, after all. Harry spun around to find Mizore hiding behind the Christmas tree. Harry smiled. She may have been hiding, but she was hiding near everyone else. Even though he'd known Mizore the shortest amount of time out of everyone, he noted the progress.

Harry handed Mizore her gift and watched anxiously as she opened it. He hadn't known her very long, so he'd taken the safe route of presents and got her a pack of lollipops.

They were exotic flavors(which he hadn't known existed in lollipops until he'd started his search for Mizore's gift), and Harry had cast a freezing charm on them, but he didn't know if she wanted something different.

Mizore took one of the lollipops out and replaced her own with it. Although her expression didn't change much, her eyes lit up the slightest bit. Harry took it as a good sign.

"Thank you," Mizore said, almost whispering.

She stepped forward and hugged Harry around his waist. Without the coat, it was freezing, but Harry held her back until he was visibly shivering. Mizore was a lonely person, even with all her new friends, and if Harry could ease that loneliness even a bit, a little chill was not going to stop him. She was one of his friends now. Weird, forcefully subdued crushes be damned, Harry would do anything to help his friends.

Mizore noticed Harry's shivering and reluctantly let go of him. Even in his affection, Harry was self-sacrificing. Mizore wanted to protect him. Her mother would tell her to freeze him solid, keep him hidden away from the dangers of the outside world. Hell, _she _kind of wanted to freeze him solid sometimes, but he would never accept that sort of life.

Harry was meant to be free. He may protest, but Mizore could see the fire in his eyes. He lived for the struggle, for the fights that punctuated their lives at Youkai Academy. He was, quite literally, born for it. Who was she to deny her future husband his life's calling? All she could do was make sure that his self-sacrificing loyalty would never be used against him for her sake.

Harry looked at the four remaining presents in his hands. He hooked his arm with Mizore's and brought her closer to the main group of people who had migrated to the kitchen some time while he had been talking to her. He didn't force her inside, but he did suggest that she try to socialize just a bit before going in to find his next recipients.

First, he found Ron and Hermione at the end of the table. Hermione was telling Ron something while he shoveled food into his mouth, giving little nods every now and then. Harry plopped down next to Hermione, across from Ron. Christmas was exhausting. He'd been on his feet all morning. Harry handed Hermione her presents: a book on Youkai species and a Japanese magic book.

The latter was mostly rituals and potions. Hermione had always had more interest in those subjects than Harry. As for the former, Hermione had a bit of a fixation on knowing everything about all possible threats, so she'd appreciate the monster encyclopedia.

Hermione thumbed through the pages of both books eagerly, hungry for new knowledge. "Thank you, Harry."

Hermione chose a book and stuck her head into it, an effective dismissal. Harry turned to Ron.

"Your present isn't here…" Harry took a deep breath, "because I'm giving you Hedwig."

Ron choked on his mouthful of Christmas ham. Hermione patted his back sympathetically and shot an unhappy look at Harry.

"You can't just spring that on him while he's got enough food in his mouth to choke a shark, Harry," Hermione scolded lightly.

Ron eventually composed himself, gulping down half a glass of water to clear his throat before giving Harry an incredulous look. "You're giving me _Hedwig_?"

Harry scratched the back of his neck, suddenly nervous. "Yeah. I mean, you've been taking care of her all this time, and I think Errol's flying days are over, don't you?"

Ron stared at him for a moment more, then blinked rapidly and looked away, clearing his throat once more. "Uh, yeah. I just. I mean, wow. Thanks, mate."

Harry smiled and moved around the table to hook an arm around his best friend's neck. "Great. Take good care of her, and… could you bring her around to visit next time you get a chance to come over?"

Ron nodded, completely serious. "I will, promise."

Harry sighed, relieved. "Alright, then."

Harry clapped a hand on Ron's shoulder and left to deliver his last two gifts. Luckily, there was only one person left. Moka.

Moka was buzzing around between the different mini-circles that had formed between the two groups. When she saw Harry watching her from the doorway of the kitchen, she quickly excused herself. She had yet to have a real conversation with Harry all day.

Harry slipped into the living room when he saw Moka approaching. He sat on one of the couches nearby. Moka left the kitchen shortly after and sat down beside him. Harry handed her the first of two presents in his hand.

The first gift was a box of red candies. Moka knew their scent the moment she opened the box. The candies were made with Harry's blood. There had to be at least half a pint's worth in the box. The smell was practically hypnotizing.

Moka popped one of the candies into her mouth. They were gummies with a pocket of pure blood in the center. The candy was mostly blood, but there was some sugar in it too. Nothing would ever be better than getting Harry's blood right from the source, but this was a good runner up.

Harry's blood was like a drug to her, the basilisk blood inside was balanced by the phoenix tears, giving it an almost spicy flavor. That spice coupled with the sweetness in the candy was absolutely magnificent.

"These are so yummy!" Moka declared.

Harry smiled, proud of his work. "Thanks, I made them myself… with myself. I'm glad you like them."

Moka nodded enthusiastically and popped about three more into her mouth.

"I got you one more present." Harry handed Moka a smaller box.

The vampiress stared at the box. It was a jewelry box. For just a moment, she entertained the thought that it was a ring. She knew better, but her heart fluttered anyway as she opened her present.

As expected, it wasn't a ring. It was a bracelet with a thin chain and a silver locket. Moka opened the locket slowly. Inside were two pictures.

On one side, there was a picture of the entire Newspaper Club. It was their first club picture. Gin was grinning at the camera. Kurumu was making faces at Yukari. Harry was trying to corral everyone into behaving. Mizore was lurking behind Yukari, just in sight. Moka was staring at all of her friends, a small, happy smile on her lips.

On the other side, there was a picture of just Harry and Moka. Harry gave the camera his biggest smile. He had his arm wrapped around Moka's shoulder. Moka had a small, confused smile. Harry had just randomly asked to take a picture with her one day. She hadn't known that it was for a locket.

Harry helped Moka put on the bracelet, watching her face for a reaction. Her brows slowly scrunched up, and the corner of her lip started to tremble lightly. Harry's heart skipped a beat, anxiety starting to seep into him. Was the gift not good enough? Had he done something wrong?

"Hey, it's alright. I- I can get you something else. What's wrong-? Oof!"

Moka suddenly turned and leaped at him. Harry caught her before he really saw her move. The force of it made him fall off the couch. Moka was squeezing him tightly around his midsection. Her face was planted on his chest. Harry didn't know how to react.

Moka lifted her head from his chest. A small line of tears was falling from her eye, but there was a big smile on her face.

"You're so dumb sometimes, Harry-kun. I love it."

Moka planted her face back into his chest, content to stay where she was for a little while longer. Harry wasn't going to tell her to move. He could still breathe, and she was crying. If this was how she was going to handle it, far be it from Harry to intervene. Instead, Harry rubbed small circles in her back, hoping to calm her down.

"Ehem."

Someone clearing their throat from behind them made Harry look up from the small form in his arms. Moka didn't lift her head, but her shoulders tensed slightly.

Kurumu was looking down at them, a disapproving tilt on her lips and a tick mark over her brow. "So you thought you could just sneak off with Harry-kun on Christmas, right before dinner, and _get away with it_?!"

Moka finally lifted her head, pouting. "I didn't sneak away! Harry-kun was giving me my present."

Kurumu lifted a brow, unimpressed. "Then why are you still lying on him?"

Moka blushed and rolled off of Harry. "Thank you for your gifts, Harry-kun," Moka said, still flushed.

Kurumu rolled her eyes at the pair. "Dinner's ready. Get in the kitchen, you two."

Kurumu watched Harry walk into the kitchen and turned back to Moka. She glared at her rival and gave her an "I'm watching you" gesture before turning on her heel and following Harry in.

* * *

Most of the food at the table had been prepared by Kreacher beforehand, but Harry noticed a few dishes from the recipe book he'd given Kurumu among the spread. How she'd managed to make them so well on her first try was beyond him.

Everyone was seated already, leaving Harry with only one seat between Kurumu and Moka.

Shit.

Harry took his seat and waited for everyone to serve themselves before putting food on his own plate. Kurumu directed him towards the foods she'd made. In the end, Harry had more food than he'd ever be able to finish on his own.

"- and then the swim club captain transformed!" Yukari's animated retelling came from the other end of the table. "We were all like "Oh no! She's gonna kill us!" and the recruits were all "Gaaah, I'm dying!" And then Harry came in and he was all "pew pew pew!" but all the dying guys were in the way so he couldn't get all the mermaids!

"So Harry-"

"-the suicidal idiot," Kurumu interrupts, glaring at Harry who was carefully avoiding eye contact.

Yukari nodded in agreement. "Yeah, Harry follows us into the pool to save the dying guys."

Harry could feel the weight of the glare he was receiving from Hermione. He carefully kept his eyes on his food.

"Did he now," Hermione said, tone flat.

A violent shiver went down Harry's spine. _Shut up, Yukari. Stop talking. Please stop talking._

"Yeah! And then the mermaids all surrounded him cuz he smells so human."

_Stop talking, Yukari. Please, I will get you all of the spell books and candy. Just. Stop. Talking._

"So then he launches Kurumu and me out of the water to keep us safe and the mermaids all start having an all you can eat Harry buffet, but then Moka-chan gets there!"

Harry had to fight off the urge to use his plate as a shield from the burning glare he was being subjected to.

"Moka can't go into water 'cause it's pure, and it weakens her. But she saw Harry-kun getting all murdered and everything, so she dived in to save him!"

Harry hunched his shoulders, trying to hide. He risked a peek at the other end of the table and immediately regretted it. Harry gulped. If looks could kill, he'd be dead, buried, and already in hell.

"Harry James Potter, I leave you alone for just a few months and you go and almost get yourself killed?!" Hermione finally hissed.

"Erm, well, in my defense… I almost got myself killed every couple of months at Hogwarts too."

Hermione raised a brow, her lips set in a tight scowl. "You are so lucky these girls were there. Honestly, you ought to wear a hazard badge on you or something. "Please look after me, or I'll go off and die.""

Harry opened his mouth to protest, but Hermione, as she tended to be, was right. Instead, he lowered his head once again and pouted.

"Oh, ease off, Hermione. It's not like he can help it. Most of the time, trouble just finds him, no help needed," Ron intervened.

Harry looked up at his best friend with a grateful smile.

"I mean, it doesn't really help that he can be really stupid sometimes…"

"Hey! I thought you were on my side!"

"There are no sides," Ron countered.

"You are a dirty traitor."

"Can't be a traitor if me and Hermione were friends too."

"Aha! So you admit you're on her side, traitor!"

Remus watched the exchange, amused by the familiar scene. It was all too easy to replace the kitchen with the Great Hall and the Golden Trio with the Marauders. They had had similar interactions. James, so much like his son, was often cowed by Remus's "mother henning" with Sirius being accused of picking sides and fiercely denying it.

Life tended to repeat itself, every generation acting exactly like the one before just with new trends and technologies. The whole thing was just one big game. The players changed, but the gameplay remained the same.

Seeing the Pup and his friends now, maybe that wasn't so bad.

The petty argument ended in a showy huff and crossed arms. The three managed to look away for about three seconds before they all burst into laughter. Dinner ended on a happy note.

* * *

Everyone assembled in the living room. They set out a layer of pillows and blankets on the floor and cuddled up in front of the fire.

Hermione sat with her back to the fire with Ron beside her. Sirius and Remus were huddled together with their backs to the tree.

On Harry's left, Gin leaned into him slightly, naturally tactile due to his werewolf nature. Yukari was already fast asleep on his right thigh. Moka rested her head on his shoulder, and Kurumu sprawled across everyone's legs. Mizore sprawled on the couch above them and ran cold fingers through Harry's hair.

Everyone had a plate of cookies- unfortunately not Kurumu's- and a glass of milk. They were exchanging happy childhood Christmas stories. Harry only had one pre-Hogwarts good Christmas to tell about.

"Well, there was this one time that the Dursleys went on vacation in the Bahamas…" Harry started.

Kurumu perked up. "Wow. What were the Bahamas like? I've always wanted to go. The sands, the ocean, the bikini attire..." she trailed off.

"Well, I wouldn't know. I stayed behind with Mrs. Figg."

Kurumu's face dropped. She had been told about the horrendous human family that had raised her Destined One, but she hadn't known they were awful enough to leave him behind out of _spite_.

"At first it kind of sucked because Mrs. Figg's house smells and she has a whole bunch of cats. But then her nephew came over for Christmas break. His name was Ryan. He was a few years older than me, but he said he had two younger brothers, so he was pretty good with kids." Harry recalled the older boy with kind eyes and boundless energy.

"He helped me decorate Mrs. Figg's Christmas tree and took me sledding. We spent the whole of Christmas Eve playing in the snow, and when we got tired, we went to town and got hot cocoa. Then, on Christmas morning I got my first Christmas present."

The room mellowed a bit at that. Harry didn't notice, too lost in the memory of Christmas past.

"It was a little toy robot and his name was Mr. Robot." Harry snickered. "I wasn't a very imaginative kid. I've kept him in my Hogwarts trunk for years, just to cheer me up every now and then."

Harry smiled fondly at the memory. The hands running through his hair paused for a moment, bringing Harry back to the living room of Grimmauld Place and out of his mind. He looked around to see everyone staring at him. Harry hunched in on himself slightly, sticking his gaze to his hands.

"Sooo… How about you guys? Any happy Christmas stories from you? Who hasn't gone yet?"

Gin shifted, subtly moving closer to Harry, and raised his hand lazily. "That'd be me."

Focus shifted off of Harry. He sighed silently, feeling like a real weight had been lifted off of him.

"Yeah, I musta been around nine. Pops was home for the holidays. He took me to this big Christmas party with the rest of the Pack." Gin smiled, small and genuine, at the memory. "The rest of the Pups were all wreaking havoc in the woods around the bonfire.

"We played this game called "ghosts in a graveyard" where the "ghosts" would look around the forest for the rest of the players. The first "ghost" to find someone would yell "boo" and we'd all scatter, running for base while the "ghosts" chased us.

"We played until the elders called us back to the bonfire. Then we all got into groups and hunted wild boar for the feast. I was paired up with Pops, and we were the perfect team. The boar we caught wasn't that big, but Pops looked so proud when I caught it…" Gin's smile stretched into a grin, his eyes glittering mirthfully. "We ate good an' slept better. It was perfect."

Pleasant smiles were all around the room.

"I'm gonna need some pictures of baby Gin," Harry commented, settling down onto the pillows.

"Remind me to hide 'em when you come over." Gin followed Harry's example, shifting a few pillows for support.

Yukari grumbled sleepily at all the extra movement, but she settled in as well. The others seemed to take that as their cue to hunker down for the night. Moka used his chest as a pillow, and Kurumu rested just between them, nuzzled into his side. The whole arrangement resulted in a mess of tangled limbs, but they were all too tired to care.

Someone, probably Remus, thought to get up and turn off the Christmas lights while they all settled in for the night. Harry thought he saw Sirius and Remus headed upstairs in the shadows, but who could tell? Ron and Hermione took the other couches, also too tired to make the long trek upstairs.

Harry, always the last to sleep, laid in the warmth of his friends' arms and felt, astoundingly, amazingly, impossibly... safe.

That night, Harry slept better than he ever had.


End file.
